(By courtesy of Messrs. Elkington & Co.)
CHAPTER IX
THE CASTER, THE CENTRE-PIECE, THE SUGAR-BOWL, THE CREAM-PAIL, AND THE CAKE-BASKET
The Queen Anne and Early Georgian Caster—Its evolution in form—The eighteenth-century Centre-piece—The Sugar-bowl—Classic influence—Late eighteenth-century silver bowls with glass liners—The Cream-pail—The Cake-basket—Pierced and interlaced work—The eighteenth-century potter.
The classes referred to in this chapter embrace the most delightful of the eighteenth-century silver plate, and appeal intimately to the decorative instincts of the collector. The pieces range from the utilitarian caster capable of varied ornament, to the elaborate table centre, an object of exquisite grace and capable of rising to perfection in the hands of an accomplished craftsman. Pierced work of great delicacy was a feature of the eighteenth-century decoration. As with furniture, the silver in the middle of the century began to grow complex in its character, in keeping with the growth of luxury. The century which began with the sober furniture and homely interiors of Queen Anne, closed with the magnificence of Chippendale and the subtleties of Sheraton.
The Caster
The caster can be traced in an unbroken line as an article of table use from the end of the seventeenth century to the present day. Even with so simple an object, apparently incapable of much variation in form, it is interesting to note the successive stages of fashion and the different phases of its history.
At first it was of lesser height. The examples illustrated on pages [269] and [277] show this. The straight cylindrical form, illustrated on [page 269], similar to that made by Christopher Canner, appears to have been the earliest type, and this lasted from about 1680 for a quarter of a century. There is a set of three Charles II casters of this style made by Anthony Nelme in 1684. There is also a simple form about the opening of the eighteenth century with plain round top. A fine Irish example, made by George Lyng, and marked with the Dublin hall-marks for 1699 (illustrated [p. 331]), shows a more ornate character not infrequent in Irish silver. The Irish silversmith was often ahead of his English contemporaries. By 1712 the Queen Anne caster was becoming taller and the body retained the band found in the straight cylindrical form. The cover offered a field for delightful and varied patterns in pierced work. There is a charm about these individual patterns which is irresistible to the collector. The cover is surmounted by a baluster knob which it retained throughout the successive changes in the body. These ornaments are delicately symmetrical, and in one instance coming under the writer’s observations the knob was a miniature of the caster it crowned. The marks on casters are placed at the top of the neck near the cover.