Hecworth - Australian Silver Elegance

This weeks post is dedicated to just one purchase from yesterdays boot sale.  I swooped in and bagged this beautiful set seconds before an Antiques dealer who I regularly see on a Sunday morning.  I found out when I got home why he didn't look best pleased !

One of the most enjoyable parts of my boot sale treasure after buying it, is researching it on google.  Sometimes its really straightforward to find dates, manufacturer etc and sometimes it takes a bit of digging.  The seller told me that this was a Hecworth Tea and coffee set from Australia.   Which I must admit I thought didn't seem likely, it looks so classically English !  He was right.  There was no Hecworth on the UK sites anywhere and all the google ebay links lead to Australian Ebay.  There was a similar set selling on Australian Ebay but it was in appalling condition.  Mine as you can see is totally mint, a few small scratches on one of the pots but apart from that it doesn't even look as if it has ever been used.

I did a bit more digging and then came up with a webpage from a museum in Australia with this picture and information !

Statement of significance

This tea service is from the collection of silver and EPNS (electroplated nickel silver) tableware, trophies, napkin rings and spoons made and/or used in Australia between the 1890s and 1950s. Presented to the Museum in 2002, the collection was assembled in the 1980s and 1990s by Professor G W Kenneth Cavill, an Emeritus Professor of the University of New South Wales. In his retirement, Professor Cavill has researched and published the histories of notable early 20th century Australian silverware manufacturers. The collection is representative of their products and includes many rare objects. It was put together to both document and preserve examples of the golden era for the production of domestic silverware in Australia. Rare manufacturers' catalogues of the 1920s and 1930s that complete the collection, show the extensive range of products then available

The hollowware represented in the collection was made in electroplated nickel silver (EPNS) and reproduction Sheffield plate (electroplated silver on copper). Finely made and modestly priced, Australian silverware competed strongly with imported goods. Since the 1950s, table silverware has largely given way to stainless steel. Souvenir and giftware such as spoons and napkin rings are particularly well represented.

Napkin rings made in Australia are comparable in quality to British wares of the same period - a similarity the donor notes is largely due to supervisors being recruited from Birmingham or London. Whilst simple napkin rings were within the capabilities of an apprentice, elaborate ones required much expertise. Reflecting this range, the collection encompasses a wide range of styles from Arts and Crafts to Art Deco and in techniques that include engraving by hand and machine, stamping, and fretwork.

Description

Tea and coffee service, consisting of tea pot, water jug, coffee pot, creamer and sugar bowl, silver plate on copper, 'Hecworth' Plate made by Platers Pty Ltd, St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, 1940 - 1945

A five piece matching tea and coffee service made of silver electroplated copper. The tea pot is rectangular in shape, has a short pedestal foot, a concave top and hinged stepped lid with Bakelite finial. The 's' shaped spout extends from low on the body to beyond shoulder and attached to opposite side is a black Bakelite square-topped handle. The water pot and coffee pots are rectangular in shape with high slightly flaring sides, short pedestal feet, concave tops and hinged stepped lids with Bakelite finials. The 's' shaped spouts extend from low on the body to beyond shoulder and attached to opposite side is a black Bakelite square-topped handle. The creamer and sugar bowls are rectangular in shape with open tops, short pedestal fee and square-topped silver handles. A 'rope' patterned border decorated rims of foot and shoulder on all pieces. All are marked on base.

Made: Platers Pty Ltd; St Kilda, Victoria; 1940 - 1945

Marks

Marked on base 'HECWORTH REPRODUCTION OLD SHEFFIELD'.

The Registration Number of an object is a unique identifying number applied by the museum at the point of acquisition. Current numbering format comprises the year of acquisition, followed by a sequential number. For example, '2007/45' is the Registration Number that represents the 45th acquisition in the year 2007. Registration number

2002/80/6

Production date

1940 - 1945

I'd love to know how it came to be in the UK, so wish I had asked some questions of the seller at the boot sale.  I can't find any reference to value and the museum has no email address.  What do you think, valuable ?

Please pop over and see what the other MagpieMonday ladies have collected this week.

Linking upto http://herlibraryadventures.blogspot.com/2011/11/flea-market-find-of-year.html