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1862 Great Set 4 English Victorian Sterling Silver Open Salt Cellars w/ Spoons

Presented is a wonderful set of four English Victorian open salt cellars, with spoons. The salts were made by Robert Harper and date to 1862. The spoons are a marriage, they are antique American spoons all in the King or Kings pattern. The salts are round and stand on three hoof form feet, with foliate decorations where the legs join the body. The salts are beautifully hand chased with a floral repousse design around the side, with a cartouche in the middle. The interiors of the salts are spotless, having been professionally cleaned. The spoons match the salts quite nicely, although they do vary in size somewhat. Two of the spoons are monogrammed MAU on the back of the handles. One of the spoons is monogrammed RWD on the front of the handle.

The salts are in great overall condition, with no splits, no dents, and no monograms. Two of the salts appear to have had very minor solder repairs to their cartouche, possibly as a result of a monogram removal. The silver in those spots is nonetheless thick and sturdy. The spoons are likewise in great shape, with crisp clean details and no dents, no monogram removals, and no repairs.

Each salt is hallmarked on the underside with the lion passant for sterling silver, the leopard's head for the city of London, the date letter Y for 1862, Queen Victoria's head duty mark, and the maker's mark for Robert Harper. Two of the spoons are stamped with the mark for Harris & Stanwood, and are coin silver. The remaining two spoons are stamped sterling, and one of the two has the retail mark for J.E. Caldwell.

The salts measure about 3 3/8 inches in diameter and stand about 2 inches tall. Two of the spoons are about 3 1/2 inches long, while the other two are about 4 inches long.

The total weight for the set is 413.6 grams or 14.6 regular ounces.

-jm