Art Deco Sugar Bowl, Silver Gilt, Strange Wear

This little art deco sugar bowl is almost certainly German, 1920's or 1930's. I would like to know the maker, if possible, but what I am more interested in is how it came to have much of the silver gilt worn away. The wear is much worse on one side than the other, and in places that one wouldn't touch in normal handling, like the lower part of the handles. I am fairly sure it isn't from cleaning.
My theory is that this sat one someone's desk or table, and that the owner was in the habit of constantly rubbing their hand along the contours, including the lid, while waiting for inspiration; maybe a writer?
It seems to have been made for export to England with the "Sterling Silver on Porcelain" stamp, so whoever owned it probably lived here. I love the incredibly art deco fashion shape; I visited a museum in Berlin which had lots of art deco ceramics, and this one could have stood along side them, except for the wear! I am almost inclined to try to rub off the remaining silver and have it in a pristine white form, but that would be destroying its history.
Any ideas on the wear, please?

 

What do you read below 'on Porcelain'. Where exactly is 'lower part of handles'?

 

foreign......
looks like they washed it...often...

 

Yep & yep.

 

INH, no idea how you find these things!

Side note, the Ebay listing states, "Beautiful patina".... emphasizes, "Great patina to the silver".

As for the OP's question, maybe something about the construction of these (silver over porcelain) just didn't hold up over time. I do very much like the shape of the little sugar bowl though. Fantastic handles.

 

Looks like this set from Czechoslovakia: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-...o-silvered-porcelain-tea-set-131-c-dfa4d3e8dc
Janet

 

Bingo.

 

@i need help is "magical".....I don't think her feet touch the ground!!!!!!!!!

 

"janetpjohn", the Czechoslovakian set is exactly the same shape, although a different colour scheme, and the understamp is the same, so I guess that is where it comes from, unless the seller got it wrong. I always thought that the "Foreign" referred to Germany between the wars, as well Japan, so that is something learnt! And "lightning bolt handles" is a useful term for the future! Maybe the wear is from washing, although why mainly on one side, and why wash a sugar bowl more than once in a blue moon anyway? But the other listing of a teaset (with the same backstamp) by "I need help" has similar wear, so I think I will have to abandon my fantasy of a writer caressing it while suffering from writer's block, and instead imagine an over-zealous housewife at the sink!
I do have an art deco silvered German piece by WMF, a beautiful teapot in pristine condition. The shape is apparently called "Anmut". It's very heavy, and I believe that the silver was laid over copper or steel, which may explain why it hasn't worn off, although it may have been little used. I am going to ebay it when I can manage to take a photo without me appearing mirrored on the surface! Does anyone have tips on taking photographs of reflective objects? The teapot may have looked good on a white tablecloth in candlelight, but it's so difficult to capture it without all the background.

This seller had the same difficulty:
https://shop.kusera.de/Bauhaus-WMF-Tea-Pot-Anmut-silverplated
Thanks everyone,
Valerie

 

German: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/iconic-art-deco-coffee-set-1792819746




Just as a note - 'gilt' would be gold...

This is a 'silver gilt' item (gilded silver):



This is a 'parcel gilt' silver item (only certain areas gilded):





~Cheryl

 

Since neither of those sites show a mark other than the generic oval on the OP's, we still don't really know. Don't you hate it when they give information that goes with a mark and they don't show it?

 

This is the mark described in the link I posted, found that virtually all the pieces in this pattern in silver or with silver trim had the same marks as the OP's, but others mentioned a mark described as "M Bavaria", and this one identified the mark, unfortunately Worthopedia often only shows some pics from listings...


https://www.theoldstuff.com/en/porcelain-marks/category/39-mitterteich-bavaria-marks





~Cheryl

 

I have this exact 10 piece tea set but struggling to find value of it. Any ideas

 

Any ideas

 

These sets are not much in demand and their value is primarily decorative. In other words, what someone would pay to have it to display in their home. It would be next to impossible to sell with the wear as shown in the original picture above. Also note that the set janetpjohn located apparently failed to sell at auction in 2018.

This site mostly serves as an identification and research site. It's not really a forum to set value. Value is best determined by searching sold listings on eBay, Liveauctioneers, or other on-line auction venues. If you can't find the exact item sometimes the best you can do is find something roughly comparable. Good luck.

 

Thank you for letting me now