Design 17/20: Silver, Furniture & Ceramics
Design 17/20: Silver, Furniture & Ceramics
Property from the Collection of Richard Kent
A Rare Victorian Parcel-Gilt Silver-Mounted Glass "Crow" Claret Jug, William Leuchers, England, 1881
Lot Closed
October 18, 07:59 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A Rare Victorian Parcel-Gilt Silver-Mounted Glass "Crow" Claret Jug, William Leuchers, England, 1881
the clear glass body shaped to suggest the body and wings of the bird, sitting on silver base modeled and chased as the gilt feet, feathered belly, and tail, the screw-on head with gilt beak and glass eyes, screwing into a feathered collar, gilt interior, fully marked inside head, part marked on base and with design registry mark, and with French import marks
height 8 1/2 in.
21.5 cm
This characterful piece demonstrates how quickly a good idea could travel in the small world of London silver manufacturing. William Leuchars & Sons, dressing case and novelty retailers at 38 & 39 Piccadilly (and 2 Rue de la Paix, Paris), registered their "ornamental design for a bottle" [#375007, crow] on December 22, 1881. This was just four months after Alexander Crichton and Charles John Curry registered their first design for a figural claret jug incorporating glass and silver, the "owl" of August 16, 1881. Leuchars poached the idea from their Oxford Street rivals, came up with their own form, registered it, and put it into production within weeks - underlining the importance of novelty for the luxury retailers of Victorian London's West End.
This was the only figural jug that Leuchars registered, but his mark appears on a Walrus jug of 1882 and a Drake jug of 1882, both certainly made by Alexander Crichton; in fact the latter has Leuchars' mark on the body, but Crichton's mark on the head (John B. Hawkins, Alexander Crichton, Through the Drinking Glass, nos. 17 and 21A)