Click Picture to Expand

Description, References and Size

These are a pair of silver open salts, they have a planished surface and gilt interior, and the rim is alternatively curled in and out. They have matching spoons with planished handles and gilt trefoil shaped bowls. This is hallmarked for Hukin and Heath, London in 1885.

These are great because the spoons are as lovely as the bowls, it shows attention to detail. The bowls are a simple design but it is the spoons that really make them.

The gilt interior of the bowls is to stop the salt from corroding the silver. The gold doing this will be really thin but you shouldn't need to polish it, as it's gold. If you did polish it, it will rub off really quickly. If you see something that is silver-gilt avoid polishing as much as possible.

Reference: Christopher Dresser, Stuart Durant, page 89

Height: 1 inches

Width: 2 inches

This is a silver open salt, it has a planished surface, a blue glass liner, and split rim that has been curled out. This is hallmarked for Hukin and Heath, London in 1888.

This open salt has a blue glass liner. The use of either blue or clear glass liner for silver condiments is very common, because so many things like, salt, jam, mustard etc.. will corrode silver and make it go black.

Reference: Christopher Dresser, Stuart Durant, page 89

Height: 1.25 inches

Width: 2.25 inches

This is a silver sugar bowl, with a milled ring for a base, and the rim curled in. This is hallmarked for Hukin and Heath, London in 1886.

Although this bowl looks elegant it is a Christopher Dressers simple design principles at work. The bowl would just be stamped into shape and the base would just be a strip of silver run through a milling machine bent into a circle and soldered on. Maximum impact for least effort, and this is how Christopher Dresser sold his services. He could knock out decoration like no tomorrow, but his simple designs are his best.

Reference: Christopher Dresser, Stuart Durant, page 89

Height: 2 inches

Width: 3.5 inches

This is a silver plate serving tray. The tray is circular and has naturalistic texturing with one edge curled over to form a handle. Marked H&H for Hukin and Heath and made in the late 1800s.

Christopher Dresser was an industrial designer, and one of the things he did was to try and make good design that was easy to manufacture. This tray is just cut out of a sheet of metal, pressed with the texture, has the edges curled as necessary and plated. Hey presto, you have a tray made from one part that looks kind of fancy. Although I don't have a reference for this it's made by H&H who he designed for, and has similar themes to his other works.

Another reason there is probably no reference for these trays is that although it is made by H&H it's just a pressed and plated piece of metal, and no fancy collector or museum is going to look twice at it.

Height: 1.5 inches

Width: 13 inches

This is a silver plate crumb tray. The tray is oblong and has naturalistic texturing with one edge curled over to form a handle. Marked H&H for Hukin and Heath and made in the late 1800s.

Crumb trays are a but anachronistic, they are from the days of having servants or lots of waiters hanging about. If during a meal someone dropped some food on the table a servant would nip in with a crumb tray and brush up the crumbs. The last time a saw a waiter clean up crumbs was many years ago and he used a little device with wheels and a roller brush inside it. You never saw where the crumbs went. I have never seen anyone using a proper crumb tray in anger. I just don't move in those circles.

Height: 1.5 inches

Width: 11 inches

This is a silver plate crumb brush. Made in the late 1800s.

This brush is unmarked but it came with the above crumb tray and has a similar textured surface on the top. Although I am less certain of the provenance of the brush, I wanted to show it so that you can that crumb try is just a fancy dustpan and brush.

Reference: Christopher Dresser, Widar Halen, page 191

Reference: Principles of Decorative Design, Christopher Dresser, page 131

Height: 2 inches

Length: 15 inches