Description
The body of this small jug is formed from an Emu egg on a silver openwork calyx. It has a shallow stem and a plain spreading foot engraved with flowing scrollwork, the design matching the calyx. The upper body has a further matching frieze above of engraved ‘anthemions’ (stylised palm fronds). A plain narrow neck rises to a rim spout with a lightly moulded half hinged lid. The handle is formed as a snake, looped and coiled around the body. Alan Landis Antiques, Sydney (specialists in silverware) describe the jug as a ‘masterpiece - which could have been made by any European master’. It is marked under hinged lid: 'C. L. Qwist / Sydney'.
History
Regan Silverware Collection,
Tamworth Regional Gallery.
Significance
Provenance: Donated by Mr and Mrs J.C. Lyttleton Taylor.
Inscriptions: C.L. Qwist, Sydney.