Lidded ewer
Designer Christopher Dresser British, Scottish
Manufactory Elkington & Co. British
This rare example of ewer or pitcher is part of a larger group of objects designed by Christopher Dresser for the highly influential Birmingham firm of Elkington & Co, famous for having patented the first commercial electroplating in England in 1838. Although previously described as “coffeepot,” the absence of ivory insulators on the handle suggest that this vessel was designed as a ewer or pitcher and not to hold hot liquids. Elkington’s second design book, preserved today at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, comprises twenty-four drawings for domestic wares by Dresser, including one for this pitcher. The clean and geometric lines of Dresser’s silver have led posterity to describe him as a proto-modernist. He was a prolific and versatile designer, who teamed up with several English companies, including James Dixon & Sons, and Hukin & Heath for silver and glass, as well as Wedgwood and Minton for ceramics.
#418. Christopher Dresser and the Birth of Industrial Design
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