Mara Sheffield England silver plate holder w/ lion head handles

This piece is marked on the bottom & is probably from the early 1990s.

I could only find a couple of trays online & neither had much information.

It measures 4 1/8" by 2 1/2" across the top & is 2 1/8" to the side edge.

Does anybody have any ideas as to what it was supposed to hold? I tried putting a sweetener packet in it but they were just a tad too big.



Thanks for any & all advice or opinions!!

 

After dinner mints?

 

So each person got their own Mara tray?

 

Only the greedy ones, everyone else had to pass it around the table and share.

 

Well, I don't know how big these things are but something tells me I will likely fall into the greedy basket.

 

You've got your own holder now, so why not.

 

Individually packaged tea bags?

 

@bluumz - I believe you may be correct. I tried putting some teabags in it & they fit perfectly.



I am kind of surprised that an English company would make a holder for teabags since @Ownedbybear has said multiple times that teabags are the work of the devil.

 

Most Brits I know feel that way, so I'm not sure it is meant for teabags.

I still think it is for after dinner mints, since the Brits have all sorts of silver and silverplate contraptions for those.

 

Some examples, yours fits right in imo:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-after-eight-mints-chrome-1617767661


https://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-2041022/rare-vintage-silver-plate-after-eight-mint-holder.html

 

Love Red Rose, it's my favorite basic daily tea!

The piece could actually be meant for holding crackers, too.

 

When I am out tomorrow I will see if I can find these after-dinner mints to see how they fit.

Mine is a little smaller than the first one & the second has no measurements.

I will let you know hopefully tomorrow.

 

it's easiest to find them......after eight....!

bawhahahaha!!!!!!!!!

 

Okay AJ you were right after all.



The After 8 mints fit perfectly & considering how the Brits feel about tea bags as we established earlier I think this was the main intended purpose.

However, just to cover all of my bases I am going to include the tea bag photo also.

I will also say that they are pretty tasty but I will likely not eat anymore since I am not a big dark chocolate fan. I doubt they will go to waste though since the DH is a big dark chocolate fan & one of my son's fiancee's favorite candies is peppermint patties.

 

I love dark chocolate, but combining it with mint is the devil's work.