From a bygone era, a beautiful very decorative and attractive olde world silent butler.
You don't see these around much any longer - silent butlers were used by the serving staff, like a fancy "pan" to sweep the dinner table crumbs or smoking ash into.
Most silent butlers are a flat wide pan but this one is round and quite deep - we suspect it was more decorative than functional
Most likely this is circa 1920's - 1950's but we are estimating the age only because there is NO makers back stamp on this item.
Because of the bright white clay used and the graphic work, facial features in particular, we strongly feel this is from Japan or China originally.
Bright white imported porcelain was in high demand by the English until the famous English potteries were able to produce the bright white porcelain that the clients wanted.
Silent Butler
"Courting" scenes around the lid and sides - that's a man wanting to make himself known to a lady with a view to romance.
Scene 1 - he plays music to her, she appears delighted!
Scene 2 - he holds her around the shoulders, she appears demur
Scene 3 - she is holding his hand
Scene 4 - he appears to be presenting her with a bouquet, she looks happy
The period costume is very much 18th - 19th century period although of course this piece is not from that age!
Small lidded porcelain pan with lid
Bright white porcelain (which could mean it is of Japanese or Chinese origin because the English were a bit slow to develop a nice bright white porcelain in the early 20th Century)
Pink coloured porcelain handle
Gold leaf is used extensively on the top of the lid and the sides as in-fill.
Brass is used for the lifting handle and the lid inside top and bottom
The threaded screws and nuts are all brass
The porcelain is in fantastic condition:
NO cracks or chips
NO discolouration (in fact it is extremely clean considering its original purpose)
NO chips etc
The highly skilled craftsmanship used in the design is marred by one detail though!
Someone has been a bit over zealous cleaning the lid (the lid ONLY) and some of the gold leaf has been rubbed off!! Such a shame, but it still looks very very nice.
The remaining craftwork is in excellent condition, no damage to the various scenes.
We have examined the various scenes very very closely and do NOT believe they are hand painted, there is very slight variation in the scenes but they appear to be transferware OR the work of an extremely skilled artist!
Measurements:
130mm diameter pan
250mm width from the end of the handle to the far side of the pan
70mm height
Weight: 750g packed
A great display piece, it is hard to imagine that a household would use such a utility piece these days, especially a round silent butler.
