Jug from a tea service by Joseph Angell II; silver, parcel-gilt with enamel; London hallmarks for 1851-52..

Jug from a tea service by Joseph Angell Junior; silver with enamel;
Silver, parcel gilt with coloured enamels, raised, chased, cast handle

The tea and coffee service consists of a coffee pot, teapot, milk jug and sugar basin. Each piece is of the same general shape although the coffee pot and jug are of a more attenuated form. Each item rests on scroll feet, the lower body of concave, faceted shape swelling to a rounded, angular plan. The upper body of each is of similar, concave, faceted form to that of the lower part and terminates in a regular, scrolled rim. Domed faceted lids surmount the coffee pot and teapot with angular pinnacles forming the knops. The handles of each object are angular with stylised, leaf ornament. The spouts of the coffee pot and teapot are similarly moulded; the milk jug has a wide, flowing lip.

This service is decorated with inset, angular silver panels inlaid with translucent enamels coloured green and purple interspersed with tongue shaped, raised reserves which have been engraved with stylised, geometric patterns.

The style of the service is an eclectic mixture of 19th century Gothic Revival, Near Eastern and rococo motifs.

From a tea service. Great Exhibition of 1851, Joseph Angell jun. won a medal for his enamel work, bronze medal in New York in 1853, and also received an award at the 1862 exhibition. Angell worked in Clerkenwell in the 1850s and employed 35 men and boys.
Enamelling on silver was revived in Britain in the 19th century, as a way of adding colour, and as part of the antiquarian interest in ancient metalworking techniques. Joseph Angell greatly improved upon existing methods of enamelling, by covering a greater surface area, and by applying his enamels to silver, rather than base metal. He achieved this by firing the enamels onto a gilt surface.

Object Type

The form, decoration and colour are combined with great verve in this piece from a tea and coffee service. The enamelled decoration is especially fine with inset medallions of purple and green translucent enamel, reminiscent of the work of leading Parisian goldsmiths of the time. The Parisians' success with the technique of enamelling was much admired and envied in England.



People

The designer of this piece, Joseph Angell, inherited the London silversmithing business founded by his father. In addition to the Prize medal awarded in 1851, he won prizes for his enamelled silver at the New York International Exhibition of 1853 and for work shown at the International Exhibition of 1862.



Time

A revival of interest in the use of enamelling had been championed in England by English designers and by silversmiths associated with the Medieval movement from the 1830s for use in the decoration of church plate. It was unusual to find enamel work on domestic metalwork. The influence of French manufacturers like J.V. Morel, who moved to London in 1849, may have stimulated the English use of enamelling on secular objects.

M.27B-1983