Featured Sterling Butter Warmer an' Underplate? Georg Jensen USA

The plate is ~5 3/8" diameter, ~1/2" high; the warmer is ~3 1/2" major diameter, ~2 3/4" rim height. Weight, the pair, is ~327 grams.

Is this wee pot correctly called a butter warmer, an' is the saucer correctly an underplate? Both are marked 206, but many Danish Jensen items, such as jewelry pieces an' spoons, etc, are so marked, an' I fail to see any similarity with my piece among them, except for material.

Th handle shows the faintest hint of what might be wood-grain (I can't capture it well enough to show you) but otherwise it appears to be a synthetic material.

www.925-1000.com has this maker's mark in New York, from 1941-1950; I cannot find anything descriptive about the lyre mark on both pieces. When I go searching for the USA Jensen, mostly I get the Danish stuff...so I'm at a loss to properly ID this piece beyond what you see; with the uncertainty about its design purpose, an' what to call the accessory plate, I'm feeling a bit stumped. I want to sell it on eBay, but wish to be scrupulously accurate in my listing description; silver folks tend to be fussy, in my limited experience.

I'll be very grateful for any an' all illumination you folks may be able to offer. Thanks for lookin'!

 

According to someone on https://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30802 :
"That lyre trademark belonged to Worden-Munnis of Boston (1940-64)"

 

I think brandy not butter.

 

https://www.weschlers.com/auction-lot/georg-jensen-inc.-usa-sterling-silver-treen-hand_8A04957B52

 

I guess now I've got to ask: What is that lyre mark doing on my GJ USA warmer an' its saucer?

 

Possibly the same story as:
https://www.barnebys.se/auktioner/o...ammered-sterling-silver-revere-bowl-ld4XgSh76
"Beautifully hand-hammered sterling silver Revere bowl. Retailed by Georg Jensen Inc. USA in New York. Traditional form with curved sides, flared rim, and stepped foot. Probably made by Worden-Munnis, a Boston maker that was founded in 1940 and specialized in historic reproductions."

 

My Grand Marnier would taste incredible in that!

 

Interesting that they were retailing silver made by other good firms out of their storefront. I didn’t know that. Maybe they didn’t have enough stock stateside to keep a showroom full?

They were using horn for handles on some stuff. I have a piece that others say is horn but to me looks more like plastic but everyone calls it horn so it probably is. Or is it wood. Idk. It’s so smooth it’s hard to tell exactly what it is. I don’t even remember what it’s on just that the handle confused me when I bought it.

 

Heh, that 'someone' is usually fairly reliable...



WWII shut down the supply of silver from Denmark - bit short on time, so rather than go into the whole story of Jensen USA, will just link the Wikipedia entry, brief but basically correct. The Georg Jensen firm wasn't particularly happy about the American 'Jensen style' production, lawsuits were filed, and "Georg Jensen Inc., U.S.A." marked silver was not made after 1951.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Jensen_Inc._(New_York_City)


In the 18th and 19th centuries these side-handled pans were used to warm brandy or mulled wines, but by the time yours was made in the mid 20th century, they were typically offered as pipkins or sauce dishes, personally, would consider the other piece an underplate since there's an indentation for the pan, but they were more often described as trays.


Here are similar 'pipkins' with more traditional turned wood handles (would guess bakelite on yours), from a 1944 Jensen USA catalog, which offered no actual Georg Jensen pieces, though there may have been some older stock available in store:




This clip is from a 1948 Jensen USA catalog, though some Georg Jensen had started trickling into the US, and had appeared in '47 catalog, none were shown in this one - they are 44.[D] and 45.[K], described as 'Sauce dish and tray':




And a 1949 magazine ad for similar:




~Cheryl

 

As a note, the piece in that link isn't a brandy warmer, it's a weird side-handled mid 20th century version of a Jersey or Guernsey milk jug, missing its lid - similar were produced by a number of American makers in silver, pewter, etc. The link below shows the Jensen USA version with its lid, oddly described as 'Modernist'...

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/modernist-sterling-silver-hot-milk-pot-106-c-e7f4f42827




~Cheryl

 

I like 'pipkin' as a descriptor for the vessel, an' as the saucer is fitted for it, I'll use 'under tray' to describe that piece. Thank you, Cheryl...very helpful post, all around!

UV gives zero reactance on the handle, an' 409 is another zip-zilch. I wish I knew for sure, but I'll go with what I do know in the listing. Thanks!

 

Keywords are important - believe more people would search for 'brandy warmer' than 'pipkin' - personally would use both, and depending on the title, 'sauce' as well...

~Cheryl

 

I didn't check the name.

 

Much more than fairly reliable!

 

Figured that was the case - gave me a chuckle!

Thanks, AJ - considering your own reliability, high praise!

~Cheryl

 

Even higher praise from you!

 

All that reminds me of an old song; 'We Be-long To A Mu-tu-al Ad-mir-a-tion So-ci-e-ty'

Aren't we all lucky!?