Dr Christopher Dresser (British 1834-1904) for Elkington & Co, a silver and ivory 'Claret or...

Dr Christopher Dresser (British 1834-1904) for Elkington & Co, a silver and ivory 'Claret or water jug' with hinged cover,

Mark of Elkington & Co (Frederick Elkington), Birmingham hallmarks 1885, base stamped Elkington & Co, 17559, Rd.22870,

Having an angled and elliptical neck with hinged cover and turned ivory finial with incised parallel lines on the edge, the globular silver body raised on a short stem and circular, spreading foot, the angled handle centred with a short section of ivory carved with repeated twin parallel lines, with part gilded interior,

23.5cm high; approximate weight 20.3oz,

Literature: Michael Whiteway, Christopher Dresser 1834-1904, with a text by Augusto Morello, published by Skira, Italy, 2001, p.165, pl.198 and back cover illustrates a similar form jug, but silver-plated rather than silver, and with slight variation to the finial and handle. The silver jug presented by Roseberys has two slender silver support strips on the underside of the ivory element to the handle that the silver-plated version in the book does not have and the finial on the Roseberys jug is more delicate, repeats the linear decoration from its handle and is attached to its cover by a silver stem. Also, illustrated in the book on page 167 is a detail from a page from Elkington's silver pattern book, 1885, which shows the drawing of the jug, numbered 17559 and annotated with its registration number 22870. Next to the jug are two other known Dresser jugs numbered 17556 and 17557 respectively and also annotated with their respective design registration numbers of 22872 and 22871.

In the Register for designs, recorded 2^nd March 1885, in the National Archive at Kew there is a group entry for Elkington and Company 22870 2. The description reads "Design for a Claret or Water jug applicable to both pattern and shape." There are individual representations corresponding to the three numbers in another volume devoted to the representations and these are similar to those in the Elkington pattern book.