Victorian Silver Tureen & Ewer
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GUEST:
These have come down through my family. They belonged to my grandparents. I just remember them being on a dining room table in New Orleans...
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
after my mother passed and we were dividing stuff up. My sisters didn't want 'em.
APPRAISER:
Right, yeah, well. And they're very, very shiny and bright. You, they're in very nice condition as I see them before me. Were they always like this?
GUEST (laughs): No, unfortunately not. They've been put away for at least ten or 12 years.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST (laughs): And it took me three days of polishing...
APPRAISER:
Gosh, wow.
GUEST:
...to get them in this condition, but...
APPRAISER:
So they must have been really quite dark, then.
GUEST:
They were very dark.
APPRAISER:
They are both extremely decorative, very impressive pieces. Both of them are Victorian. They are hallmarked with London hallmarks from the 19th century. Both of them bear the tax mark for Queen Victoria. She was the, until very recently, she was the longest-reigning monarch, uh, in British history, 1837 to 1901. Under her reign, English silver making went through so many different changes, iterations, fashions. And we see two different pieces that were made during her reign here. The earliest one is this silver tureen. But interestingly about this is that it's itself derived from an earlier design. This is absolutely rococo in taste. It dates from 1841. That's when it was hallmarked. And it was Charles Thomas and George Fox is the maker's mark that's on it. You've got these rocqué sort of scrolls. You've got sea scrolls, you've got beautiful sort of watery, flowing movement to it. The shells on the feet and on the handles. So much fluidity and movement in it, wouldn't you think?
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
On the finial here is a pomegranate, and the pomegranate is a symbol of fertility. Also on it is an engraved armorial. It's on the lid there. One side of it is one coat of arms, and on the other side of it is another, and they're sort of united, right? So I think it's a marital arms. And the pomegranate being a symbol of fertility makes me think that this was likely given...
GUEST:
As a wedding gift.
APPRAISER:
Exactly. To a very well-to-do couple that got married in, in and around 1841. You've got a beautiful cartouche here on the front with a large bird in the middle, and that's surrounded by, again, these rocqué scrolls and the flowers that come in around them. And then a bit of a plain body. You've got these beautiful, bold sea scrolls. You take it all the way around. There's this big cartouche again, it's very heavily marked. Each piece in English silver should be independently marked. This piece here, uh, is much later on in the century. This is from 1883. And you've got water pitcher or a ewer.
GUEST:
A wine pitcher?
APPRAISER:
Well, exactly. That's what I think, it's more likely to be a wine ewer. And the reason why is because of this satyr mask. Satyrs were very sort of provocative, mischievous creatures, and so to have wine in here and the satyr mask in the turning of the handle, I think, is, is a clue as to what the contents would have been. Also, you've got these sort of Gothic arches here. That's really typical of the 1880s. And really fascinatingly on this, you've got these fourpence coins-- they're, are genuine coins, right? They're silver coins on a silver ewer.
GUEST:
Yep.
APPRAISER:
This is a very unusual design. And this is Alderman and Slater, but Alderman and Slater, to be honest with you, are not a particularly well-known company. This may have been a custom piece. To see one of these pieces on ROADSHOW come to one of the cities that I attend is in itself very exciting.
GUEST:
Huh.
APPRAISER:
But to see two owned by the same person is quite extraordinary, actually. And that's why I wanted to put them here together, to sort of compare and contrast the two of them.
GUEST:
I'm glad you did. I think my grandparents would have been... (exhales) (voice trembling): ...would have been happy to see them.
APPRAISER (softly): I'm, I'm very glad. I would say that for insurance purposes, the tureen should be valued at $20,000. The...
GUEST:
Pleasantly surprised.
APPRAISER:
The ewer, $10,000 insurance for that.
GUEST:
All right. I may just have to hang on to 'em.
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