About Martin G Roberts Expertise Pewter of the 19th Century and earlier from the British Isles and Ireland. I can comment on origin, date, rarity, and value. I cannot give detailed information on 'art' metalware, Art Deco, Art Nouveau or Arts & Crafts metalware. See my website for more information: www.antique-metalware.co.uk.
Experience A collector for twelve years and a dealer for seven.
Publications Journal of the Pewter Society Pewter Society Newsletter Bulletin of the Pewter Collectors' Club of America
Hi Martin,
I have an "heirloom" coffee pot made by sturges & son. Only other mark is a "1" crossed out which I assume is the size (pint?).
Quite majestic with an ivory looking button knob on the top & a metal handle coated with a black finish.
Its been in the family for quite a long time so I was interested in any history you could offer.
Many thanks, Charles
Answer -
Sturges & Son was a partnership of Elizabeth Sturges and her son Richard Ford Sturges. They worked in partnership between 1833 and 1841, at 26 Litchfield Street, Birmingham, England. Richard continued the business as RF Sturges after 1841.
They made Britannia metal, which is a pewter alloy formulated for fabrication (rolling, pressing, spinning, etc) rather than casting. Wares by RF Sturges are fairly common - his tobacco jars turn up frequently - but there are fewer pieces by Sturges & Son around.
The 1 may indicate pint - but you can check the capacity, bearing in mind it will be in British Imperial.
You say the handle is black painted metal - are you sure about that? The handle is pinned into sockets, which usually indicates a wooden handle - that is the usual arrangement on BM coffee and teapots from the first half of the 19th Century.
The button on the finial is probably bone rather than ivory, as pieces such as this were quite cheap products in their day.
The information on the partnership comes from the database of the Pewter Society. There isn't an image of the Sturges & Son mark on the database, so if you are able to take a good close up of the mark, and don't mind it being made available to pewter collectors for study, then you can email it to me at stynt@btopenworld.com
)