Rare Sterling Tea Kettle 1725 Ca. Hmkd David Clayton

You are bidding on an important Miniature Sterling Tea Kettle and stand both Hallmarked London "Lion Passant" and David Clayton post 1720 mark. The hallmarks on both pieces show wear but are readable without a loop. This wonderful piece measures overall on the stand about 3 1/2 inches high with the handle up by 2 1/2 inches at it's wides point. The kettle on it it's own with its' lid excluding the handle is 1  7/8ths inches high. Overall the plain Early Georgian style is consistent with Claytons work .

Condition report: It is being sold as found uncleaned and untouched. The lid to the kettle or pot has a few minor wavy imperfections up just under the finial. The body of the kettle has a few old dents and the bottom base rim of the kettle is a little out of round. Also one of the supports going from the center ring on the stand is detached from the leg. Please see photos. The photos are very true to the piece. Mind you there are some pretty high end repair people who could straighten such a piece out which would only enhance it's value. This happens all the time in the Antique silver trade as one might expect silver is fairly malleable.

 An aside: Also things that are almost 300 hundred years old may have been played with over the decades. One might consider 35 years as a standard representing 1 generation, Hence we are looking at potential 8 generations of possible handling. For example this could have been bought for your Great Great Great Great Great Grandmother  This piece being about 280 years old I would say that just the fact that it exists as such is just short of a small miracle !

Provenance: This wonderful piece was found here in St. Clair Shores  Michigan and it has been said by the previous owners that it was begifted many years earlier, amongst other things, from "The Ford's" to  a relative of their family who worked for a number of years at the house or estate of the late Henry Ford.

 Summary:The hallmarks, the form of the piece is correct to the time period and the maker,  condition etc... all go hand in hand. Lastly this is what one hopes for when investigating such things. All arrows point in the same direction. One factor does not conclusively guarantee authenticity but when all line up I will stand behind 100 %.

 Given all the variables at  play age, size, multiple piece unit,  function, material, scarcity and "wealthy toy factor in it's day" may indicate that this could be quite desirable to a few people. Likewise I say on to you those who are interested,  bid with confidence , You are safe here!

 If you need any further information please feel free to email..

The buyer pays shipping and insurance. Thanks

Here is some information related to David Clayton as written by the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada which has a very substantial and important collection of early English Miniature silver items;

In England, the Dutch taste for silver toys began to be imitated in London in the 1680s, when the two countries were linked by a royal marriage, trade and the protestant faith. . The first silversmith to produce them in quantity was George Manjoy (d. 1728), whose wares bear London hallmarks between 1685 and 1713. Manjoy followed the standard English practice and produced tiny tablewares and household articles such as tankards, candlesticks, grates and fireplace equipment, teapots, stills and furniture. David Clayton II (d. 1728), a smallworker and jeweller, produced a range of similar but plainer tablewares bearing London hallmarks between 1697 and 1728. The silver toys must have enjoyed great popularity during the 1720s because the majority of the surviving pieces bear the sterling mark that Clayton used between 1720 and 1728. David II's brother John Clayton revived the production of toys in 1736 but apparently succumbed to bankruptcy in 1737.