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Tea Service: Tray

Decorative Arts and Design

As the name of this pewter tea and coffee service indicates, Archibald Knox, the main designer for the department store Liberty & Company, drew inspiration from Celtic designs. The restrained knots and angled lines seen in this set, along with the attenuated plant forms in the work of the Glasgow School in Scotland, were hallmarks of the Art Nouveau in Great Britain. The Celtic Revival was part of the British reaction against the perceived decadence of the Art Nouveau as practiced in Continental Europe. Liberty, the leading British purveyors of both domestic and Continental Art Nouveau design, became synonymous with the style at the beginning of the century.

MEDIUM Hammered pewter
DATES ca. 1903
DIMENSIONS tray: 1 5/8 x 20 x 14 1/8 in. (4.1 x 50.8 x 35.9 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS Stamped on underside - "H / MADE / IN / ENGLAND / ENGLISH PEWTER / 0231 / R D 420290.
SIGNATURE no signature
INSCRIPTIONS no inscriptions
ACCESSION NUMBER 71.71a
CREDIT LINE Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Archibald Knox (English, 1864–1933). Tea Service: Tray, ca. 1903. Hammered pewter, tray: 1 5/8 x 20 x 14 1/8 in. (4.1 x 50.8 x 35.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 71.71a. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , CUR.71.71a-e.jpg)
IMAGE group, CUR.71.71a-e.jpg.
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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