//
Description
George W. Shiebler became a manufacturer of silver flatware in 1876 and developed his eponymous New York business into one of the more significant artistic table silver and jewelry producers of the latter 1800s. Bolstering his Manhattan business he established a manufactory in Brooklyn and produced some sterling hollowware and novelties, such as this set of inward curving, veined leaf tea wares, from the 1880s-1910. Both the cream pitcher and sugar basket are engraved with the same initials for an owner, presumably they have always been together, but a tea or coffee pot in this organic form is not associated. Spiders guard the contents inside the gold-plated bowls with matte exteriors and shiny interiors. Hammer marks are visible as a faceted texturing method on the exteriors. The overall design of playful trompe l’oeil naturalism within the fashionable design of mixed and patinated metals stemming from Japanese influences is clearly visible in these small vessels.