Pair of Christopher Dresser Silver Plated Ebony and Glass Wine Decanters, 1881

Both with ebony handles and hinged tops, the upper portion of silver plate stamped with H & H for Hukin and Heath and the registration marks for 1881. Interestingly most decanter models lack a model number.

Christopher Dresser, 1834-1904, was a visionary English designer whose work is often seen as the precursor to European modern trends of the 20th century, particularly Hoffman and the Wiener Werkstatte in Vienna. As an academic and botanist, Dresser first concentrated on standard design of the period with a view to use technology to bring fine design to the industrial middle class of the 1860s and on. A trip to Japan in 1878-79, where he also collected countless works for his colleague Louis Comfort Tiffany, radically influenced his design sensibilities and on his return to England began producing minimalist works in stark contrast to traditional Victorian sentiments. At the time that Tiffany introduced his Japonesque style in the US Dresser was commissioned by Hukin & Heath to produce a complete new range of household silver designs.
The exhibition H & H held in 1879 was a sensation and these and other items from the period forever changed the discussions of design.