Antiques Roadshow by Paul Atterbury

Author:Paul Atterbury
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-10-18T04:00:00+00:00

A SILVER DUCK CLARET JUG

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The nineteenth century was a great period for the production of luxury goods, thanks to an ever-expanding consumer market as the wealth generated by industry and trade worked its way through the system. It was a good time to be a silversmith, particularly for those specialising in novelty wares. Cruet sets, pepper pots, vesta cases, pin cushions, menu holders, card cases and many other luxury domestic wares were in demand, and perennially popular were those featuring animals and birds.

Well used to seeing such things at Roadshows, Ian Pickford was nonetheless surprised and delighted when an unusual duck-shaped claret jug was brought in to the Dorking Roadshow in 1998. He knew at once that it had been made by Alexander Crichton.

Surprisingly little is known about this Victorian silversmith, though he appears to have had Scottish roots. His earliest known work dates from the 1870s, but it was in the early 1880s that he really made his name as the designer and maker of novelty claret jugs in animal and bird forms, made distinctive by their combination of glass and silver. Over thirty designs were produced by him between 1881 and 1882, many of which were registered at the Patent Office. For a while, Crichton was in partnership with John Curry, with a workshop and showroom in London’s Oxford Street. The list of animal and bird models is extensive and includes owls, parrots, penguins, cockatoos, walruses, dodos, crocodiles and carp. He also made other animal table items, such as lighters and honeypots. Affected by the severe recession of the mid-1880s, Crichton went bankrupt in 1886.

The owners had inherited their duck claret jug and, when told it was worth £950, they had wrapped it up and put it away in a trunk. Friends who had long admired it had persuaded them to get it out and bring it to the Roadshow. Having pointed out the remarkable details of the engraving on the glass body and the quality of the modelling of the silver, Ian told them that it was an extremely rare survivor from an age of luxury and indulgence. He explained; ‘Novelty claret jugs are always in demand today, but this one is something special. The combination of Crichton as the maker and the duck shape makes this exceptionally desirable.’ To the owners’ amazement, he then valued the jug for £25,000.

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