Description
A truncated spherical, sterling silver cream jug with curved silver handle, set on three scrolled and curving feet.
Dimensions & Weight:
Width (spout tip to handle): 9 cm Height: 6 cm Weight: 115 gm Max. capacity: ¼ pint
Hallmarks and other Distinguishing Features:
This jug, especially rare as it is executed in silver and is not silver-plated, is marked on the underside with the Lion Passant Gardant (Sterling), Crown and upper case ‘P’ (Sheffield 1882), and Queen Victoria sovereign’s head duty mark, together with the maker’s mark “JD&S” for James Dixon, the Patent Office Design Registry diamond for 18th November 1880, and a special stamp with facsimile signature ‘Chr Dresser’ indicating that it was designed by Dresser. The jug also carries, on one side of the spout and on the side of the handle, the French control mark of a swan, indicating that it has been sold in France (as a piece made outside metropolitan France) at some date between its manufacture and the present day. The underside of the handle carries the design / pattern number: 2273 N32 3-15.
Design Context:
It was following an inspirational voyage to Japan in 1876-1877 that Dr. Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) began to produce radical new designs for silver and silver-plated wares. These designs were originally for the Birmingham firm of Hukin and Heath but, following his very successful exhibition in August 1879, Dresser began a design affiliation with the prestigious Sheffield manufacturer, James Dixon and Sons (1806-1992) as well. Dresser designed utilitarian objects for the general public, making full use of the latest techniques of mass production, and he is therefore often regarded as the ‘father of industrial design’. His most innovative designs were for metal objects with symmetrical, rectilinear shapes and undecorated surfaces. Indeed, it was for the Dixon firm that Dr. Dresser produced some of his best modernist designs for metalwork – some of which (in silver plated form) are shown in an extract from the Patent Office Design Register and also Dixons’ catalogue (see pictures).
This jug is indeed a rarity, as Dresser’s designs for James Dixon were comparatively few and the objects are nearly always silver-plated. Silver-plated tea sets of similar design to this example are illustrated in most of the standard writings on Dr. Dresser’s designs. These include Christopher Dresser 1834-1904 by Michael Whiteway (2001), Christopher Dresser: A Pioneer of Modern Design by Widar Halen (1993), Christopher Dresser: The People’s Designer by Harry Lyons for the Antique Collector’s Club (2005). The full set of this design also features in the catalogue for the 1981 Cologne exhibition Christopher Dresser: Ein Victorianischer Designer, an event and a publication that secured Dresser’s place in the pantheon of modern designers.
