These little miniature comports or stemmed dishes are beautiful examples of the silversmith's art. They are hallmarked for Birmingham, 1930.
They were made by Henry Matthews who was registered as working from Vittoria Street in Birmingham from 1893 - 1930.
Henry Matthews was a Birmingham-based silversmith; his first mark was registered in 1894; production stopped in 1930.
His office was on Vittoria Street, Birmingham. He is particularly remembered for his small silver items that required great attention to detail, such as card cases, picture frames and fine dishes like my ones on offer here.
These matching dishes come in their original hard-fitted black leather case, lined with cream silk. The case is inscribed on the interior of the lid with the printed retail mark for Sharman Neill, Belfast.
These miniature comports are exquisite in design and detail and are a very stylish pair of Celtic Revival dishes.
Each bowl is on an elegant trumpet-shaped foot. The bowl section is a nicely shaped open one with an undulating rim. It has a very fine applied decoration of entwined Celtic knotwork / strapwork running around the rim and embellished with delicate Celtic bosses. On each dish at the side is a lovely pair of decorative drop handles.
Each dish is 9.5 cm in height. The diameter of the bowl is 10 cm. The diameter of the base is 6 cm. Each dish weighs around 125 grams.
Both are nice and shiny - and in good vintage condition and comes in original fitted case.
The only condition issue is one tiny ding on the stand of one dish - but it is very minor and probably quite acceptable as you dont really see it when on display. This has been taken into account with my pricing. It is difficult to find a matched pair in their original fitted case.
A fair price for such beautifully made and unusual pieces - they look just fabulous on display.