Japanese Sterling Silver Iris Tea Set "Signed" 71oz Start Price USD 6,250.00 Current Price USD 6,250.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 6,400.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, November 28, 2008 End Time Monday, December 08, 2008 Location New England See more about 'Japanese Sterling Silver Iris Tea Set "Signed" 71oz' Description FINEST MEIJI JAPANESE STERLING SILVER IRIS TEA AND COFFEE SERVICE; LAVISHLY CARVED IRIS ALONG GENTLE STREAM; SOFT HAND HAMMERED BACKGROUND; FLORAL AND LEAF WRAP BRANCH FORM HANDLES; NEVER MONOGRAMMED; SIGNED "PURE SILVER"; PRISTINE; 71 OUNCES We are exceptionally pleased to offer this museum quality, Meiji hand wrought sterling silver iris tea and coffee service. In near pristine condition. Signed by the artist. From our personal collection of over thirty years. Now offered on Ebay. Meiji silver is, without question, the finest the world has ever known. Many of the silversmiths were trained Samurai. Out of favor due to the cultural changes. They brought centuries of sword making skill to the breathtaking hollowares they produced. This iris tea service perfectly illustrates such Meiji silver artistry. Each of the four pieces is meticulously hand crafted, in raised circular form. The large coffee pot in slender, ovid shape. Long tapering neck. Lavishly carved iris along gentle stream decoration. The flowers in various stages of majestic bloom. Hand carved in exceptionally high relief. Adding even more visual appeal to an already dramatic design. Tall, "spear" like iris stalks reaching skyward. Others bent over by the wind, or their own weight. Set against fine, soft hammered background. The thousands of individually applied hexagonal "craters" form a brilliant backdrop. Shimmering in the natural light, and accentuating the primary design perfectly. The iris rising from the gentle stream below. Hand engraved wavy lines, simulate movement of the water. A design feature exclusive to Japanese decorative arts. Beautifully cast flower and branch form handles. Gently tapering to ends. Perfectly fit recessed, gently domed covers to coffee, teapot and sugar bowl. Topped with artistically carved, life like blooming iris and stem finials. The finial stem integrated perfectly into the carved iris below. As if the flower finial is actually rising from the cover's floral display below. This signed late Meiji hand wrought iris cream pitcher 6 1/2 inches handle to spout 3 inches tall, and weighs 10 ounces. The covered sugar is 7 inches handle to handle and 4 1/2 tall and weighs 11 ounces. The teapot is 8 3/4 inches handle to spout and 6 inches tall, weighs 21 ounces. The coffee pot is 10 1/4 inches tall and 8 1/2 inches handle to spout weighs 29 ounces. Exceptionally thick, heavy guage sterling construction, the set weighs 71 ounces. Each piece with crisp, well struck hallmarks, "Pure Silver" in Japanese characters. Much higher standard of purity than English sterling. Excellent condition. Near pristine. The set appears little, if ever used. Handles perfectly secure. Interior of tea and coffee pot completely free of discoloration. Each piece stands firm on table or serving tray. Covers close flush to base. Rich, lustreous sterling patina. The beautifully carved iris along gentle stream decoration retains its original crisp, vibrant hand chased detail throughout. Hand carved raised iris finials in fine state. Cream pitcher with two tiny bends to spout tip and one of covers with couple shallow pinhead size bumps. For the discerning collector of the finest, museum quality late 19th century Japanese sterling. A beautifully hand wrought, Meiji sterling silver iris along gentle stream tea and coffee service. Hammered background. Each piece signed "Pure Silver". Never monogrammed. In superb condition. Please feel free to inquire directly about this, or any item we've listed. Whether the item is alone or part of a set. We very much welcome your interest. We are collectors first. As such, we are quite easy to work with. We happily combine items when shipping, saving you costs. We ship twice weekly, usually US Postal Priority. Fully insured for domestic packages, and air parcel overseas. We charge a bit more than actual cost for custom size boxes, shipping materials and to pay for professional packing. We make great effort to accurately describe each item listed. Returns are accepted, if either condition, country of origin or dating is significantly incorrect. In such cases we refund your shipping costs as well. Like you, we are only human, and make mistakes. Hopefully, not too many. Remember, the items you see are antiques. Hence, have an expected amount of wear from normal use. As such, returning an item because we failed to mention the tiniest bit of wear, or barely discernible flaw is not acceptable. Nor do we accept returns based on buyer's remorse. Nor change of taste, or because a buyer did not realize how "small" four inches might be once in hand. Please note Massachusetts residents are subject to sales tax. We have over 4395 feedbacks. And, we are quite proud of our 99.9% rating. We received favorable notice in the March 12th, 2006 New York Times. Page 8, Business Section, in a well written article on silver collecting. Copy furnished upon request. From our personal collection, a fine mid 19th century coin silver basket by Edward & John Moore, of Tiffany fame. Illustrated in the cover article in May/June 2008 Silver Magazine. Enjoy....and good fortune in your bidding. Place a Bid!