Robert & Belk, Sheffield, England Antique Art Nouveau Sterling Silver Coffee Pot, Tea Pot and Sugar & Creamer Set With Rare Repousse Ornamentation

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Robert & Belk, Sheffield, England Antique Art Nouveau Sterling Silver Coffee Pot, Tea Pot and Sugar & Creamer Set With … Read more Robert & Belk, Sheffield, England Antique Art Nouveau Sterling Silver Coffee Pot, Tea Pot and Sugar & Creamer Set With Rare Repousse Ornamentation. Circa 1890- 1910.

Overview:
After extensive research I have identified the maker of this set as Robert & Belk. I found exact matches of this design on other platforms ( all Robert & Belk ) although this group here sports the wooden handles to prevent burning your hand - some others I found with the same pattern had silver handles. Also the others found did not have the mascarons - but they matched everything else exactly and were marked as Robert & Belk:- the spout tip eagles with the same exact eye contours and beaded repousse work around the eyes and same mouth formation, the long and short scrolls and how they are arranged around the pot belly, the leaves, the exact same flowers on the pot belly and hinged lids, the eagle finials, same shaped foot, same fluted edging, same points at the bottom of the handle, etc.

In this offering you will receive a marked sterling silver coffee pot, matching sterling silver tea pot and matching sterling silver sugar bowl and creamer. ( and a separate tong for sugar cubes)- All in excellent condition. The whole set was extremely well kept and I polished out the light tarnish that existed with the most gentle cloth and solution. There is still a bit of tarnish in the ornate silver repousse work, but it adds definition and I think any further polishing is not necessary at this point.

About the style and rarity of these pieces:
A few sites I visited described the unique style of the ornamentation here as Rococo, but the elements within this work doesn't fit that description when I research Rococo academically- so I am labeling these Art Nouveau style. Before labeling this Art Nouveau style, I once again did a lot of academic research on the forms that one would expect to see in an art form deemed to be Art Nouveau. My conclusions are as follows: Due to the fact ( that I verified ) that the Robert & Belk silver company was most prominent during the actual Art Nouveau period ( 1890 to 1910 ) and that I have identified the pattern as belonging to Robert & Belk, this was a strong reason to label these as Art Nouveau. Then as well, while researching the forms most commonly encountered in Art Nouveau, I found that symbols of nature, flowing scrolls, shapes of plants and flowers, animalistic motifs and mythical ornamentation such as mascarons ( whimsical faces ) are all a hallmark of Art Nouveau. Both the coffee pot and the tea pot here have all of these elements – eagles ( nature & animalistic), botanicals ( flowers, long scrolls and leaves ) and mascarons ( at the base and up into the lower part of both spouts there are whimsical and wise looking faces that is a fine example of mythical ornamentation), a most alluring and rare characteristic of these fine Art Nouveau sterling silver pieces.
** In addition, I discovered that on the insides of both the pot belly chambers of the coffee and tea pot - at the base of the inside of the spout, there are built in strainers. I have now revised picture #4 which previously held 2 side by side pictures of the insides of both pots to now be divided into quadrants. The lower 2 pictures show the strainers inside the pots ( on the left is the tea pot ) and ( on the right is the coffee pot ). It was nearly impossible to capture the strainer in the coffee pot because it is taller and the strainer sits inside the wide pot belly well below the 3 1/2 inch neck, that also flares at the top. To get at least a glimpse of the strainer, I put a reflective brownie spatula inside the coffee pot. Then I was able to get the reflection of some of the strainer holes. The stainer holes are constructed seamlessly within both pots.**

Condition:
There are no dents, splits or cracks.here. All pieces here are 925 Sterling silver of the period except the sugar cube tong is not original. It was made by Rogers, but I think it is stainless steel. I'm just throwing in as a bonus. The hinges of both pots are in good working order. All ornate repousse work is intact and strong. The wood handles are in great condition as well with no attachment issues. Everything is all original.
** There are no monograms on this set **

** A word on the sterling silver itself:- the walls, spouts. lids, etc are pretty hefty/ thick in my opinion. I do not know how to weigh precisely in troy ounces- but I will give you the weight of each piece:

The tea pot weighs 2lbs ( I don't know what the weight of the wooden handle would be- but it feels minimal compared to the sterling in the pot.)
The coffee pot weighs 2 lbs as well. ( I don't know what the weight of the wooden handle would be- but it feels minimal compared to the sterling in the pot.)
The sugar bowl weighs 12.5 ounces
The creamer weighs 9.6 ounces

I have now been able to determine that the troy ounce weight for this set is around 75 Troy ounces.

But again, the coffee pot and tea pot ( except for the wooden handles of course ) are sterling silver and the sugar bowl and creamer are sterling silver as well.
Each piece is marked as sterling ( except for the sugar cube tongs ). On the last picture, I compiled the 4 sterling insignias and the word sterling engraved clearly above each one. The differences you see in the sterling insignia display is due to me experimenting with light- trying my best to capture the insignia in the best way possible. In the end, I thought it would be good to show all the sterling marks under all the light conditions I attempted in one space. See less