About this lot

Description

Dublin - An Edward VII silver dish ring, by James Wakely & Frank Wheeler, 1902, of pierced and concave form, the piercing of pastoral scenes around a vacant cartouche, 12ozt 10 x 21 x 20cm (4 x 8 x 8in)
Other Notes: Dish rings are used to support bowls of hot food on a dining table, helping to insulate the hot bowls from highly varnished table tops. They were introduced at the end of the 17th century in France, England and Ireland. Most have different diameter rims so that they could be reversed to support containers of different sizes. So many 18th century Irish dish rings were made that they became virtually synonymous with Irish silverware and the nickname "Irish potato ring" was coined at the end of the 19th century. They are usually spool-shaped and their concave sides are decorated with pierced and engraved designs. As well as being decorative and a display of the silversmith's skills, piercing also had a practical benefit, allowing the air under hot dishes to be vented. In the early 20th century there was a revival of interest for collecting silver with "ethnic characteristics" and this increased the popularity of dish rings again as with this example.

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