A very rare quadruple silverplate tea serving tray salver by Empire Silver Plate Co. (c. 1896) featuring Victorian details such as heavy beading along the outer edge, decorative florals at each end and a lovely bright-cut engraved center of a 5-petal flower, leaves and ferns.
This rectangle shaped quadruple silverplate antique silver tray originally had a factory applied oxidized dark finish, though one can see that the oxidation has been worn/polished off in areas over the many years of its life.
Finding a tray large enough for a complete tea set was impossible - not surprising, since few would have been able to lift it when it was fully loaded. Some tea sets had small individual trays for resting the coffee and tea pots.
The difference between salvers and trays is that trays have handles and salvers do not. Trays are not found before the late 18th century. Most early salvers perished in the English Civil War and there are few survivors before the reign of Queen Anne.
America imported many salvers from England. Those they made themselves are similar to English ones at an earlier period, and because rare, are expensive The most common pre-Revolution salver has a shell and scroll border and is more restrained than English salvers of the period.
Salvers under 6 inches (15cm), are occasionally called waiters. The early 18th-century salver is found with a central foot and is sometimes incorrectly called a tazza. Borders generally follow those of the period.
There are few oblong salvers, and square examples tend to date from c.1720-40, when a few rare octofoil (eight sided) examples were also made. Oval salvers, usually from the late 18th century, are much sought after.
Trays are usually oblong or oval, and being larger than salvers, are more expensive. Trays from the 1750s are rare and command high prices.
There are no dents, dings or dimples, and no damage to note other than the loss of the oxidized silver finish, some silverplate wear and loss in spots on the front, and more on the back side of this antique silver tray.
This Empire Silver Plate Co. quadruple silverplate tea serving tray measures 12.5" x 10" x 1/4" tall and weighs 1 pound 5 ounces. Touchmarked on the back with EMPIRE BRAND SILVER PLATE, QUADRUPLE PLATE and the pattern number "241". You can read more about the history of the Empire Silver Plate Company from our Silver Manufacturers pages.
A1570 - Antique Victorian EMPIRE SILVER PLATE CO. Quadruple Silverplate Tea Serving Tray Salver #241
$46.00
