Five Manuscript Trade Catalogues for Silverware Company
- SIGNED Hardcover. Half Calf, half morocco
- Birmingham, England
Birmingham, England. Hardcover. Half Calf, half morocco. Good to Fine. Spectacular manuscript silverware catalogues, with literally thousands of designs all drawn with pen-and-ink and sometimes colored with watercolors or wash, with coloring usually partial, but occasionally an object is fully, richly colored as well. N.d., circa 1880 to 1920. All albums are large oblong, of varying size, and also varying bindings. The smallest is 19 by 33 cm, the largest, 31.5 by 45 cm. Two are about 26 by 39 cm. Two with modern half calf and marbled paper pastedown on boards, two, unrestored, full leather, but one without spine, and both, the leather is rubbed raw. The smallest is half morocco, with the leather heavily rubbed. Leaves within the album are generally either of card stock or linen backed. So while the bindings aren't without issues, the contents are generally quite safe, and the tears in some leaves doesn't negate thsi. There are more than 2,500 of designs of a wide array of silver objects -- tableware, trophies, goblets, desk paraphernalia, decorative bric-a-brac, cosmetic implements such as combs and brushes, frames, hat pins, tie pins, cigarette cases, clocks, lighters, and on and on. Novelties abound, by which we mean quirky designs. Much of one of the catalogue books is devoted to rattles, of all things. These often exude whimsy and fun, as when they are crowned by a court jester. But also to be observed is the sheer variety of rattle designs. And many of the designs, whatever the object, are quite detailed and ornate. While styles run from Rococo or neo-Rococo to Art Nouveau and Art Deco, the one consistent strand running through much of the design is an affinity for naturalistic renderings, whether flora or fauna. This both reflects that the catalogues cover several decades of silver goods, during which time tastes and demand evolved, but also the reality that different styles co-existed at any given time, with many a company seeking to serving those with varying tastes. These five catalogues, in our view, are of greater value than the sum of their parts, for here we can draw the benefit of an archive and glimpse the design history of the company and also, to a fair degree, the history of design during the closing decades of the nineteenth century and at the turn-of-the-20th Century. ,