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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 New Teapot
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| Author | Topic: New Teapot |
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argentum1 Posts: 602 |
posted 01-16-2008 09:54 AM
  
No question or comment just showing off a new teapot. Well, I guess there is a question - What species of wood is the handle? I believe it to be original as there are no signs of pin or ferrule damage/removal/change etc. IP: Logged |
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blakstone Posts: 493 |
posted 01-16-2008 12:29 PM
Very nice. The color and grain of the wood look like rosewood to me, but the wear also suggests that it might be some other wood stained to imitate rosewood. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 01-16-2008 02:45 PM
Federal silver is not that well represented in the published collections, most of which concentrate on Colonial silver, so I couldn't tell you whether the handle is original or not, but I can say that the several examples of this elegant style of pot (which is one of my favorites) that I can locate or have seen, were made both by John Wolfe and his father, William Garrett Forbes, and have rounded handles with an upturned thumbrest. It is my impression, which may or may not be correct, that the rounded handle is more associated with the Neoclassical style, and the flat topped handle with Empire styles. The one or two helmet shaped creamers I have seen (by others) with flat topped strap handles look oddly awkward. This rather bulbous interpretation of the Neoclassical may be considered a transitional one, and seems to have been favored by the Forbes. The sugar bowls that accompany these Forbes pots have cast scroll handles with pendant rings, and the creamers have a typical Neoclassical rounded strap handle. Wooden handles do break and get replaced. That is not to say that the handle on your pot is not original, and it does not really look out of place - a buyer could have requested this handle, or it could have been an original mixing of design elements which many silversmiths occasionally produced. Congratulations on your acquisition. It certainly is a nice looking pot. IP: Logged |
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argentum1 Posts: 602 |
posted 01-16-2008 05:43 PM
A closeup of the bottom of the handle showing the grain. It appears that there is no stain or surface finish just the natural coloration of the wood. IP: Logged |
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blakstone Posts: 493 |
posted 01-16-2008 05:55 PM
Thanks for the close-up. It still could be rosewood, but the new image looks more like macassar ebony (also called calamander) to me. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 01-16-2008 07:30 PM
A followup on my previous comments. I just checked Christine Laidlaw's article on "The Wholesale Business of Teunis D. Dubois," whose pseudohallmark is the sheaf of wheat stamp on this pot. The DuBois' (Teunis and Joseph) made much silver for the Forbes family. In addition to the Yale teapot made for W.G.Forbes (of similar style with a rounded handle), there is also illustrated an associated sugar bowl (Yale also) made for W.G.Forbes that has flat topped strap handles. The creamer is illustrated along with the other two pieces in the Yale catalog (Buhler & Hood), and it too has the flat-topped strap handles. The Sugar bowls and creamer mentioned above are marked by W.G.Forbes alone (see illustrations of both in Quimby). IP: Logged |
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argentum1 Posts: 602 |
posted 01-16-2008 09:18 PM
Thank you Blakstone and Swarter. It is a true pleasure hearing persons with similar interest; and especially those whose level of knowledge definitely exceeds my own. This is where early American silver starts becoming a most interesting study. IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 01-16-2008 11:04 PM
What a lovely teapot. IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 01-18-2008 04:18 PM
This wood identification web site may be helpful in identification the wood in the handle. Great teapot. IP: Logged |
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salmoned Posts: 336 |
posted 01-18-2008 06:37 PM
I'm not very knowledgeable in this area, but the silver/wood joint transitions appear about as clumsy as I've ever seen. The curve and shape of the silver side is completely lost, rather than carried over, on the wood side. That would lead me to believe the handle a replacement [and not very well made]. IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 01-19-2008 06:43 AM
The handle does look like rosewood, but perhaps a variety that is no longer available? I too feel it is not only a replacement, but possibly one taken from another old pot as (as mentioned) it does not really fit the flow of the silver part of the handles or the size. Lovely pot tho. IP: Logged |
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argentum1 Posts: 602 |
posted 01-19-2008 08:23 AM
Please forgive me if I seem to be arguementative --- there is a website for a high end silver dealer. [snip] there are two Revere pots shown with zoom feature available. Take a look at the where the wooden handle enters the silver ferrule. In addition the wood has some varigated color. Rosewood and subspicies of ebony generally have some degree of color varigation. Ebony can be found as a solid black but today most black ebony is dyed. IP: Logged |
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salmoned Posts: 336 |
posted 01-21-2008 07:12 PM
Well, those transitions look natural to me, whereas on your pot it just seems that the 'original' handle must have had a compound curve (S) handle rather than a single curve (C) on the lower section (but maybe I'm nuts). IP: Logged |
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