Overview
A slender, classical-form trophy vase featuring elegant scroll handles and a distinctive Greek Key (meander) border. The piece utilizes the Neo-Grec style, which revived ancient motifs for the Victorian and Edwardian middle class.
Preliminary identification
Photo reference
3 uploaded photos
Overview
A slender, classical-form trophy vase featuring elegant scroll handles and a distinctive Greek Key (meander) border. The piece utilizes the Neo-Grec style, which revived ancient motifs for the Victorian and Edwardian middle class.
Story
Ancient Greece met the industrial age in this elegant vessel. Designed to sit on a mantle or sideboard, it brought the prestige of the 'Grand Tour' into a family home, likely serving as a celebratory gift or a refined floral display.
Maker / Origin
While no clear maker's mark is visible in the photos, this style was a staple for companies like Reed & Barton, Meriden B. Company, or Elkington. These firms specialized in 'electroplating,' a 19th-century marvel that allowed the middle class to own items that looked like solid silver.
Condition & Value
The vase shows significant 'bleeding' where the silver plating has worn away to reveal the yellowish base metal beneath, particularly on the base and high points. There is also heavy tarnish and some surface scratching. Condition reduces value by roughly 50% compared to a mint-plated example.
Full Research
Sold comps, value drivers, and venue guidance pulled from recent auction results.
Build on this identification
Layer in sold comps, value drivers, and venue guidance.
Comparable demand stays strongest where maker, originality, and venue confidence line up. Broader examples still trade, but the range tightens quickly when provenance, condition, or selling lane fit is missing.
Best Venue
Specialty auction or a focused dealer with buyers already in this lane.
Signed example with light edge wear and original frame.
Comparable format with stronger provenance and cleaner surface.
Smaller related piece with visible craquelure and trimmed margins.
Period match with softer condition and weaker subject matter.
Close market lane comp with similar material and presentation.