Essex Jewelry and Antiques

Impressive 1781 English Georgian Sterling Silver Round 18" Serving Tray

$4,815.00

Presented is an excellent English Georgian sterling silver large serving tray, dated 1781. The tray is round and stands on four scroll form feet. The tray has a wide, continuous band of finely hand engraved decoration, in the form of foliate scrollwork entwining and between beadwork bands, all richly detailed and well done. The engraved beadwork decoration matches a raised beadwork border around the rim, the interior, and the feet of the tray. The center of the tray has a crest of a spur and leather between raised wings, associated with the Beeching, Annandale, and Capp family names, likely others as well. The tray is a good large size, likely able to accommodate a tea service of four pieces or more with ease, depending on the set's size of course. A very impressive piece.

This piece is hallmarked with the lion passant for sterling silver, the leopard's head crowned for the city of London, the date letter f for 1781, and a maker's mark likely for Joseph Steward or Joseph Steward II.

This piece is in great condition. The crest and the engraved decoration are quite crisp. There are no splits, no dents, no breaks, no monogram removals, and no repairs.

The tray measures about 18 1/4 inches in diameter and stands about 1 1/2 inches tall at the rim.
The usable, interior surface area measures about 16 1/2 inches in diameter.

This tray weighs 2331 grams or 82.2 regular ounces. -jm