Description
Comprising a TEA POT with an ebony handle, 11cm high; a MILK JUG, 6cm high; and a SUGAR BOWL, 8cm high, all with facsimile signature C.DRESSER, stamped maker's marks and 2273, with a registration mark for 25 November 1880 (3)
Footnote
Literature: Rudoe, J. 2008 'Design and Manufacture: Evidence from the Dixon & Sons Calculation Books', The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present: Christopher Dresser in Context, Journal 29: 66-83.
Sheffield Archives, Accession B12, Dixon costings book 1879, p. 111-113.
Halen, W., 'Christopher Dresser', Oxford, 1990, p. 181, pl. 205
Note: This tea service is one of a group of remarkable designs that the pioneering Victorian designer Christopher Dresser produced for James Dixon & Sons of Sheffield from 1879 -1883. A series of costings books, held in the archives at Sheffield, reveal that Dresser produced approximately 80 designs for Dixon's, not all of which are thought to have gone into production. This was possibly due to comparative expense of manufacture, but also because of the radical nature of his designs. Dresser's interest in and close understanding of the process of manufacture and the use of materials are reflected in these books. They show how much each item produced cost to make in detail, how they were made and, in most cases, which were designed by Dresser. The entries for this tea service in the costings book lay out the costs of manufacture and, in some cases, who was to carry out the work. The cost to manufacture this set was £2/17s/10d, one of the most expensive in the entire range.