Glass and China Book

Silber & Fleming

ISBN 10: 1853269441 / ISBN 13: 9781853269448

Published by Wordsworth, Ware, 1990

About this Item

Tea Cups with Butterfly Wings where the handle ought to be. Lava Tobacco Jars in the shape of an elephant. Gipsy Kettle Drum Table in Walnut Wood or Ebonized and Gold. Sterling Silver Biscuit Box. These items have the mark of Victorian England and this 283 page reproduction catalogue contains THESE and many more wondrous items. Silber and Fleming were manufacturers, agents, importers and warehousemen who offered the HOUSEHOLD goods (and occasionally business, hall and church items as well.) for sale. There are basin and ewer sets, sanitary wares (bathroom porcelain), wall mirrors, hand lanterns, syphons, photograph albums, cruet bottles, celadon vases, and cake trowels - a REMARKABLE collection. Things in silver, glass, wood, china and plush. Page 80 offers china with imitation green moss on the outside PLUS raised flowers, page 147 offers19 sorts of hookah. I didn't know anything about the following : Seltzogenes, Oleographs, Preserve Helpers, Tee Pendants, Lemon Saw, Muffineer and Strawberry Sets. Plates are (as in the original catalogue) in both colour and B/W. Elegance, Extravagance and Nostalgia in equal parts. Cond : Boards are burgundy with gold lettering on spine only, end-papers are a glossier burgundy, d.j. is black with decorated panels (front & back) showing 19 examples from the book. Former is BRIGHT, tight and clean in all aspects. D.J. is lightly scratched and rubbed, laminate is pealing at back bottom edge. Light crinkling, NO tears. Neither names nor marks nor stains. VERY giftable !! Great reference for antique shop or auction house !! Quote (p. 205) (Mechanical Pieces) : " . under glass shade, representing a Monkey Conjurer. Richly dressed figure standing behind a table on which is a small glass shade with three dice. The figure places a small brass cover over the shade and then raises it, the numbers on the dice changing meanwhile. Two airs of music. Height, 28 inches; length . ." Size: Folio - over 12" Tall. Seller Inventory # 003072

Bibliographic Details

Title: Glass and China Book

Publisher: Wordsworth, Ware

Publication Date: 1990

Binding: Hardcover

Illustrator: Colour and B/W Plates

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Edition: First Thus.

About this title

Synopsis:

THIS CLASSIC Victorian illustrated household catalogue is a cornucopia of nineteenth- century material splendour: a richly-coloured parade of the middle-class lifestyle of an era when houses had maids and cooks, and the new gas lighting fell from crystal chandeliers upon cut glass decanters of old port, engraved silver tea-services, and mahogany tables well laid with the finest china. Silber and Fleming were manufacturers, importers, warehousemen and agents for every type of article., and their wholesale catalogue is a wonder to behold, the pages of finest bone china dinner services in particular - in blue, gold, red, green, and in all manner of glorious designs - being quite breathtaking compared to the sombre and lacklustre articles we use today. But here also are Silver Tureens and Pie Dishes, Egg Stands, Revolving Trays, Glasses, Bottles, Goblets and finger Basins, China Framed Mirrors, Aquaria, Fern Cases, Flower Stands and Jardinieres, Stirling Silver Salvers, Cruet Stands and Li quor Frames, Cake Baskets, Cutlery Sets, Chandelier Drops, Spangles, Lustres, Pen dants and Bells. . . the list is almost endless, and every page is packed with illustrations and descriptive captions. They even dealt in church windows and ecclesiastical furniture, art metal work, oil paintings and the then new 'chromo lithographs', as well as picture frames, mounts, mouldings, and photograph and cuttings albums. There is a section on working mecha nical novelties in glass cases, and they were particularly proud of their own patented "Silber Light" and offered a vast range of home, shop, street and railway light fitments - as well as a range of stoves!