posted 02-07-2007 08:01 PM            

When speaking of Victorian silver, one of the traditional criticisms from an aesthetic viewpoint has been the lack of consistent style. Mixing of stylistic elements from unrelated cultures and/or times in one piece was considered vulgar and ridiculous (or simply wacky and charming, depending on your viewpoint.

As such, the thinking seems to be that many pieces were put together as a hodgepodge without any thought. In other words, just throw a bunch of pieces together and see what happens. However, the more I see that more I have to believe that, at least in some cases, silver designers were indeed following a particular inspiration.

A case in point is the attached Meriden Britannia Co. baby cup I sold recently.

To quote the happy buyer:

"I believe it has a strong mythological theme from the ancient Welsh Book, The Mabinogion (translated meaning 'youth'). The man's face on the handle is reminiscent of Manawyddan mac Llyr, one of the brothers of the first royal families of Britain known as Prydyns that ruled long before the Angles and Saxons came to Great Britain. The butterflies are references to the story as translated from the Red Book of Hergest."

As an aside, designs in Oriental works of art often incorporate puns, riddles, inside jokes, and other bits of foolishness that remain hidden to western and contemporary eyes. I think such things are worth looking for in silver as well.

Anyone have anything similar to share?