Silver & Metalware : Coffee & Tea : Sheffield Plate Tea Urn. Circa 1840 An English Sheffield plate hot water or tea urn, having vine leaf and grape motifs. The inverted pear-shape urn has two wooden handles on each side flanked by leaf and scrolled cartouches and a spout in the front. The urn sits on a shell, acanthus, and C-scroll shaped square pedestal with ball feet. The fluted cover has a shell shaped finial filled with grapes. Inside, the urn holds the brazier for heating the water (a cylinder for a heated iron). They were used to store boiling water from which the teapot could be kept filled. Such vessels first appeared around 1750-1760. They were used by society during the tea taking ceremony, and were necessities in houses where the kitchen and formal rooms were some distance apart. Introduced into Europe in 1610 by the Dutch East India Company, tea was completely new for people used to drinking wine, beer, and juice, and in the beginning a privilege of the wealthy. However, tea became cheaper around 1800. In Victorian times ornate silver tea sets were regarded as highly desirable and fashionable. No maker's mark visible. According to Miller's International Antiques Price Guide 2003, p. 370: The absence of a mark on Old Sheffield, however, is of no disadvantage as some of the finest pieces are unmarked. Condition: minor wear at the bottom of the feet, where small parts of silver plate are missing, showing the copper underneath the Sheffield plate. width depth height 13" 14" 18.5" Inventory Department: SI Inventory Number: 1278-002 Price: $2,250.00 Click here for print friendly page