Brass Arts And Crafts Jardiniere By Henry Loveridge

  
Brass Arts and Crafts Jardiniere by Henry Loveridge. A superb design and a heavy quality piece, stamped underneath. The Jardiniere, (or it may have originally been a coal helmet) stands on 3 shapely legs, and has chunky ring handles with a bold band of roundels around the top. The company originated in 1840 and, during the rest of the century, became one of the biggest firms of japanners in the country. This firm originally made japanware on papier mache and on tin.

As the japanning trade fell off during the second half of the nineteenth century several firms are known to have moved into copper and brassware. It seems that Loveridge's followed that course. No records of the company are known to survive and no catalogues issued by the company for brass and copper ware have yet been found. An advertisement which illustrates some of their brass and copper ware is shown on another page. This is a case where archaeology (the surviving artefacts) has to be used to supplement the very limited historical record.

It is by no means certain that all of Loveridge's goods had a maker's mark on them. Indeed it would be surprising if this were so: putting a trade or other mark on mass produced items was not at all common before the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Some japanned items have been found marked with the single word "Loveridge" as has one cast iron cooking pot. Undoubtedly most items of that sort were not marked. By the time brass and copper ware for domestic use was being produced on a large scale, marking goods was much more common. Although many surviving pieces of Loveridge's art metalware do have identifiable marks on them that does not mean that all of Loveridge's pieces are marked. Indeed identical items have been found with one marked and the other not marked. Some Loveridge pieces have registered design numbers on them.

It should be remembered that this gives a date for the design but not a date of manufacture. It is known that some manufacturers used the same design for decades and there is no reason to suppose that Loveridge's did not. It is not known exactly when Loveridge's started to make brass and copperware. The registered design numbers give some indication of dates. It is certain that the company closed in 1927.

It may be supposed that the items which incorporate cast or wrought iron came into production at an early date, as the company would be making use of its existing skills and equipment. But it is not known how long these designs with iron continued in production: it is just possible they were still being made in 1927. Jardiniere has been left with it's natural patina and not polished like many others on sale. This item is in the category "Antiques\Antique Furniture\Other Antique Furniture".

The seller is "shackletonfox" and is located in this country: GB. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom.

• Style: Antique
• Material: Brass
• Original/Reproduction: Original