An extremely rare and early Chelsea Teaplant Moulded Coffee Pot and Cover, Circa 1745-49

An extremely rare and early Chelsea Teaplant Moulded Coffee Pot and Cover, of lobed silver baluster shape, moulded with spiralling sprays of flowering teaplants, and raised up on a cushioned base, the applied handle moulded with stylised acanthus leaf ornament and kicked out lower terminal, the domed cover with similar teaplant moulding and lobed rising knop.

Some of the very earliest products of the Manufactory, just a handful of these larger service pieces now survive with an example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, an example in the Katz Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The mark represents the earliest period at Chelsea and is the Alchemical symbol of Fire. The silver shape is developed by Nicholas Sprimont, silversmith and proprietor of the Chelsea Manufactory. The spiralling teaplants are also found on some of the silver of Paul de Lamerie.