Fanciful & Rare Silver Plated Victorian Centerpiece by the American Meriden Britannia Co- Circa 1880

A rare and exquisite Victorian silver plate centerpiece by the American Meriden Britannia Silver Co. with a cut crystal bowl which is removable and could be used separately.  The bowl is a lovely cut crystal piece with several motifs of hobstars, fans and crosshatching. The silver plate centerpiece has an immediate “fanciful”  visual impact in its unusual references to the natural world with its “sleigh shape” & the tremendous integration of  “form and function”.

The round top plate serves as a tray not only to hold the cut crystal bowl, but has an applied bouquet of flowers in a silver plate motif and is supported by two symmetrical, curved “iris” flowers in a fan shape. The “sleigh” is a fanciful design where the sides are in an open weave of birds in their “element” of branches/leaves/grapes, while the top surface of the “sleigh” is intensely decorated with gorgeous naturalistic elements of flora and fauna where a dragonfly and crab seem to be “floating” on a star/flower background.

By the end of the 1870s the Meriden Britannia Co. was considered the largest silver company in the world. Their designs are included in many USA museum collections & the Victoria & Albert Museum London.

This centerpiece makes a for wonderfully uplifting dinner party experience and is an important and rare display piece worthy of its historical reference to the Meriden Britannia Co, circa 1880.

Dimensions:

Silver Plate Centrepiece : width 13.25″ x height 8.0″ x max diameter/depth of top tray 7.5″                Crystal Bowl: diameter 10″ x height 3.75″