M. FORD CREECH ANTIQUES & FINE ARTS
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Although I am a silver junkie, I am also a very great fan of brass. Brass imparts the color of gold and the warmth of the sun. Good brass can be like satin to the touch. While it shines like silver, the highly reflective surfaces are much slower to tarnish. Picture a chest with highly polished brass mounts, and you further understand how the metal even enhances the surfaces around it.
Brass - a tricky combination of copper and zinc - has been in use since the Hittites, about 3500 BC. Brass was known and traded on the Continent - even in England - from the Roman times. However, in Europe, the secrets were lost in the Dark ages, and not rediscovered until the 13th century, when the skills of manufacture were revived and perfected on the Continent.
England imported brass from the Continent until the 1550's, when political changes forced Elizabeth I to develop brass manufacturing within England. These early castings were fraught with not only technical difficulties, but high intrigue, monopolies -- even religious unrest. Almost all existing brass wares - some large and elegant, some small and "toy-like - were melted down for arms during the Civil War (1642-1651). "Brass and bronze were ripped from churches in the name of the Lord, but more precisely to be cast into cannons", (Domestic Metalwork, 1640-1820, Gentle & Field).
With a few rare exceptions, British brass we see today dates after the 1660 Restoration - and more likely from the late 17th century forward. British brass was perfected in the 18th century, and soon set the standard worldwide with their elegant form and restraint of line and decoration - always showing the metal to its best advantage.
Below are a few of the golden, silky, shining brasses from our stock, ranging from the 17th to the mid-19th century.
All images below are linked to detail pages.
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Five Continental Brass Candlesticks, 1690 - 1730 Heights from 5.75" to 8" From Spain, The Low Countries, and France; one of bell metal - a brass used for the finest castings with a higher proportion of copper to zinc (1 still available - French - on right)
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Rare Early Georgian Brass Pedestal Snuffer Stand & Scissors England, c1720-40 The stand with a 2-hole container 7.5" High Overall The upright snuffer was introduced during the Restoration and continued to c1750. Some pedestal form snuffers had companion candlesticks. These scissors are original to the stand - quite rare as most have long since been separated. SOLD
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George III Large Brass & Iron Trivet England, Mid to Late 18th Century Large enough for a small chairside table 16.25" High x 15" Wide x 4" Deep "Trivets" were raised on legs of iron
to sit in the actual fire, supporting the cooking vessel while cooking,
warming or stirring. By contrast "footmen", popular in the late 18th century, had 4 legs, only the back legs of iron .SOLD
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Very Good George III Brass, Iron & Wood-Handled Trivet with Brass Cabriole Legs England c1780 Illustrated P., H. & H. Schiffer, The Brass Book (1978), p. 400, Figure C Trivets usually have iron legs. Those with brass legs and iron stretchers are rare and desirable combination. In addition it features hooks to secure it to the fire fender SOLD
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Georgian Engraved Brass Tobacco & Pipe Box, with White Clay Pipe
Of Naval Interest, Identification and dating with the assistance of Captain Scott Bailey, US Navy Retired, Alexandria VA A box of identical form is illustrated in The Brass Book, Schiffer, p.110, a diagram showing the compartment functions - the diagram depicted on the detail page. SOLD
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Please email or call if you have any questions regarding "beautiful brass"- or anything else.
Millicent Ford Creech
901-761-1163 (gallery) / 901-827-4668 (cell)
581 S. PERKINS ROAD / LAURELWOOD COLLECTION / MEMPHIS, TN 38117 Hours : Wed.-Sat. 11-6, or by appointment Complimentary Gift Wrapping
mfcreech@bellsouth.net or mfordcreech@gmail.com
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Home Accessories Ceramics Early Asian Ceramics Fine Art Furniture Glassware Silver
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© Some images are copyrighted by their authors and used by permission. They appear here for your enjoyment only. Please do not reproduce without specific written permission.
Beautiful Brass! Examples from the 17th and 18th centuries
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