Late Victorian Mappin & Webb Silverplate Epergne with Provenance
A late Victorian Mappin & Webb silverplate epergne, circa 1899, the central stem cast as a leafy grape vine in fruit, with two deer grazing at its base, rising to four scrolling arms and a further central arm supporting cut crystal bowls, raised on a platform base bearing the inscription 'Presented / To / Thio Tiauw Siat / on / the Occasion of His House Warming / At / Leith Street, Penang / By / Gan Ngoh Bee / 1899', 28.54 in. high. Provenance: Mr Cheong Fatt Tze (1840-1916), The Blue Mansion, Penang. Private Collection, Melbourne, by descent from the above. Thio Tiauw Siat is the Hokkien name for the Chinese industrialist, Cheong Fatt Tze (1840-1916). Cheong Fatt Tze rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most powerful and influential figures in Chinese international trade and polictics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The house referred to in the presentation inscription is likely to be 'Le Maison Blue', Cheong Fatt Tze's famous mansion, which stands to this day at 14 Leith Street in the Penang city of Georgetown. The house is now a private museum and still contains many of the Straits Chinese furniture and objects held in the collection of Cheong Fatt Tze since its construction in the late 19th century.
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- Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
- Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.
The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 – 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.
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