A rare George III sterling silver set of caddies: including a pair of tea caddies and a larger matching sugar caddy. London, 1771, by the silversmith William Vincent, who specialized in wares for the tea table, especially tea caddies. Each is of a rectangular form with serpentine shaped sides, decorated with a repousse floral design, and with acanthus capped feet and floral finials, and each bears an engraved family crest of a dove holding an olive branch in its beak. Stamped on each base with a full set of hallmarks. Two lids are also stamped with the lion passant, while the third cover is unmarked and may be a replacement, although the workmanship matches the other caddies identically, just a slightly thicker gauge to the silver; however, this might also be just a variation within the original silversmith's shop. Condition is very good, though there are a few small pinprick-sized holes in two of the covers at the high spots of some of the flowers and a couple of tiny holes at high spots on the side of one caddy. These are too small for tea to fall through and are often encountered on items of this age. All in all this is a rare set in very nice condition, being offered at a very fair price.

Antique Silver
Antique Sterling Silver