A Victorian art and crafts sterling silver tea caddy, Birmingham 1899, marked for Liberty and Co, designed by Oliver Baker (1856-1939)

A Victorian art and crafts sterling silver tea caddy, Birmingham 1899, marked for Liberty and Co, designed by Oliver Baker (1856-1939)

Of rounded inverted baluster form upon six scroll sheet work feet, the hinged waisted lid with a recessed centred, held by a hinged latch section, the lid surmounted by a detachable knop finial. Applied stap work to the lid and body. Fully marked underneath, part-marked to lid.

Height – 9.7 cm / 3.8 inches

Weight – 413 grams / 13.28 ozt

Oliver Baker (1856-1939) was born into an artistic middle class Birmingham family with his father a renowned water colourist and member of the Royal Academy. Baker, in his early years, actually studied under his father at the Birmingham School of Art before following in his steps as a water colourist and running a gallery in Stratford-upon-Avon. Although he too exhibited at the R.A. this venture proved unsuccessful and unprofitable and by 1897, at aged 40, his diaries suggest that he began designing silver. In 1897 he was approached and invited by his brother-in-law, the recognised silversmith William Haseler, along with a few other Birmingham artists, to design a new range of distinctive and innovative silverware for his firm. By 1898 many of these new designs had been executed but were considered too avant-garde for Haseler's clients. He therefore came to London and found a buyer in Liberty & Co, a company synonymous with selling the most fashionable and avant-garde wares of their day. Liberty's launched the Cymric range in May 1899 .Baker's time in designing for Liberty & Co ended in around 1906, but not before laying the foundations for other leading designers at the firm, including the eminent Archibald Knox.