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The Victorian Fairytale Silversmith – Alexander Crichton
Hidden away in the Devonshire countryside are some wonderful towns, villages and stunning coastal and riverside views, that have an almost fairytale feel when you first see them. Exploring these places one can understand how they would inspire the whimsical fancies of artists and writers of the Victorian era and still do to this day.
This is perhaps one of the joys of being a West Country auctioneer, travelling to see clients and hopefully discover a rare or unusual piece. During a visit to one such place, Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood uncovered an intriguing example of an elusive little known Victorian silversmith whose own story has an almost fairytale quality.
Alexander Crichton is a mysterious figure of the Victorian era, whose place of birth and death are still unknown. His mark was registered with Goldsmiths Hall in 1872 and a pair of shields made by Crichton after designs by Sir Joseph Noel Paton were exhibited in Edinburgh in 1886. Paton’s great artworks ‘The Quarrel’ and ‘The reconciliation of Oberon and Titania’ were themselves based upon ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ and contain a plethora of fairytale figures that inspired Crichton.
Crichton seems to have embraced the fanciful world of fairytales, no doubt influenced by his relationship to Paton, and through him, Crichton may certainly have had an acquaintance with Sir John Tenniel. Tenniel’s creations of Lewis Carol’s figures was perhaps the main impetus for Crichton’s best known work, the wonderfully fanciful silver mounted claret jugs made between1881and1882. Fish, squirrels, owls, cockatoo’s and dodo’s were a number of animals that Crichton used to produce some of the finest eclectic silver of the Victorian period.
The small three piece silver gilt bachelor tea set bears all of the whimsical styling of Crichton’s work, with butterflies, herons and a cockerel executed in high relief.
Hallmarked for London 1878, it pre dates the better known claret jugs, but is perhaps an important step in the little known life of Crichton himself. Looking at the octagonal form and naturalistic cast handles, it clearly has influences of the Arts and Crafts period and the decoration may well have been influenced by Tenniel’s illustrations for Walter Crane’s ‘The baby’s own Aesop…’
Working among such luminary figures at the end of the 19th century, it is clear that Alexander Crichton embraced the mood of the nation and its passion for fairytales. Whilst his creations are remembered and coveted by collectors’ worldwide, the fate of the fairytale silversmith remains unknown, except for an application for discharge from bankruptcy filed in Sheffield in1899.
That this tea set should appear (as if by magic) it continues the story of Crichton’s work onto a new era.
For further details please call Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
on 01392 413100
First published By The Dart May 2014