Item number: 60168
A rare and large Arts & Crafts “Cymric” biscuit barrel,
Birmingham 1902 by Liberty & Co.
Cylindrical body, the removable lid subtly domed and decorated with a central floral ornament extending to the rim. The body is adorned with abstract, broad floral decoration. A very rare large sterling silver biscuit barrel in exceptionally good and authentic condition with its original surface.
13.8 cm / 5.43″ height, 11.5 cm / 4.52″ diameter; 473.4 g / 15.22 oz
The design of this sterling silver biscuit barrel can almost certainly be attributed to Archibald Knox, although decorative elements of designs by the artists Oliver Baker and David Veasey can be recognised. All three artists worked as designers for Liberty & Co., with Archibald Knox holding a leading position there and being the most important artist. Unfortunately, no catalogue raisonné or similar has survived from Liberty & Co., there are only individual designs by artists and contemporary photographs in the relevant publications. We consider Archibald Knox being the designer of this work, as the decoration to the side of this lidded box is almost identical to the ‘Sabra’ pattern on Liberty & Co. teaspoons, which is attributed to Archibald Knox (cf. the attached detail from a contemporary illustration, third spoon from the left).
Liberty & Co. was the most important silversmithy in Great Britain around 1900. With its silverware, it played a decisive role in the worldwide spread of the Arts & Crafts style – which has its equivalents to German Jugendstil and the Art Nouveau of France and Belgium. At times, the company had shops in London and New York. The great influence that Liberty & Co. had on the spread of the Arts & Crafts-Style is illustrated not least by the fact that the terminology ‘Stile Liberty’ became established for the Arts & Crafts-style in Italy.
