| Steppes Hill Farm Antiques Newsletter #57 - May 2016 |
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Click on the above image to zoom
Two unusual Edwardian novelty articulated silver Dog Vesta Cases with Cubist influences, by The Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, London 1907.
The two Vesta Cases illustrated above and recently acquired, are from a known set of four made by the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd in London in the early 20th century. They are not at all common and perhaps they did not prove to be particularly popular at their date of manufacture. Their distinctive geometric design and cartoonish characteristics were possibly a little ahead their time, but interestingly they coincide perfectly with the beginning of the cubist movement in France and Great Britain in 1907.
Cubism was a truly revolutionary style of modern art developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braques. It was the first style of abstract art which evolved at the beginning of the 20th century in response to a world that was changing with unprecedented speed. Cubism was an attempt by artists to revitalise the tired traditions of Western art which they believed had run their course. The Cubists challenged conventional forms of representation, such as perspective, which had been the rule since the Renaissance. Their aim was to develop a new way of seeing which reflected the modern age.
In the four decades from 1870-1910, western society witnessed more technological progress than in the previous four centuries. During this period, inventions such as photography, cinematography, sound recording, the telephone, the motor car and the airplane heralded the dawn of a new age. The problem for artists at this time was how to reflect the modernity of the era using the tired and trusted traditions that had served art for the last four centuries.
Photography had begun to replace painting as the tool for documenting the age and for artists to sit illustrating cars, planes and images of the new technologies was not exactly rising to the challenge. Artists needed a more radical approach - a 'new way of seeing' that expanded the possibilities of art in the same way that technology was extending the boundaries of communication and travel. This new way of seeing was called Cubism - the first abstract style of modern art. Picasso and Braque developed their ideas on Cubism around 1907 in Paris and their starting point was a common interest in the later paintings of Paul Cezanne.
Click on the above image to zoom
An Arts & Crafts cast silver caddy spoon with hammered pear shaped bowl, the scrolling wirework stem set with three green chrysoprase cabochons on ropetwist finials, by Omar Ramsden, London 1934. The bowl engraved with a crest - a dexter hand ppr., holding a rose gu., slipped and leaved vert. Possibly for Bain or Loggie of Scotland.
Once again I am pleased to be able to update the site this month with some new items of stock and some highlights include; a Victorian Novelty Silver Figural Horses Head Vesta Case, a Victorian Silver & Enamel Sailing Yacht Vesta Case, a Victorian Novelty Silver Gilt Swans Head Propelling Pencil, a Victorian Cast Naturalistic Novelty Silver Onion Scent Bottle, a 20th Century American Silver & Enamel Trout Fly Cigarette Case, a Victorian Silver Armorial Wine Label for 'Currant', a pair of George V novelty silver and enamel Ships Lamps Menu Holders, and a rare Victorian novelty silver and enamel Cigar Box Vesta Case.
Please make sure and check out the latest articles in our Blog, for all the latest news in the silver world and some other interesting features
I do hope that you will find this Newsletter informative and helpful and will allow us send it to you on a regular basis. I would welcome any feedback you may have, both positive and negative.
David W.A. Buck.
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