Antique English Silverplate Armorial Crest Tray, Coat of Arms, 15.5", C. 1900

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Description

Recently acquired while visting Olde Cape Cod...we went to a great old family house sale….A heavy-gauge English silverplate serving tray, … Read more Recently acquired while visting Olde Cape Cod...we went to a great old family house sale….A heavy-gauge English silverplate serving tray, square in form with softly canted corners and a molded, stepped rim. The surface bears an engraved armorial crest — a coronet above a quartered shield, flanked by mantling, with a motto scroll below (arms unidentified). A partial maker's mark is stamped near one edge, though age and polishing have worn it past full legibility.
Silver over Copper, in the manner of Old Sheffield Plate, England, circa 1900.
The tray's reeded, stepped rim and softly canted corners are drawn from the restrained, architectural lines favored in English Georgian-style silver — a quieter register than the fussier rococo trays of the same period. The engraved crest gives it the character of a piece made for a specific household, the kind of formal presentation tray that would have seen service at a sideboard or in a butler's pantry.
15.5" square ; Good antique condition, consistent with age and honest use See less