2 Tiffany & Co Floral Fern STERLING SILVER Tray & Over cup Tea Strainer w handle

Please note the hallmark on the tea strainer is worn. You can barely see the TI...

And the underlined o of Co. LING (for sterling) if you look at it under magnification so please see photos closely. Tray has clear hallmark and you can see the the patterns on the pieces are identical and recognizable as Tiffany. Lovely little set which makes a beautiful eye catching accent to the table, the way it is detailed. Offering this antique sterling silver strainer with Tiffany's beautifully detailed repousse floral and fern pattern, attached to a nice ebony wood handle.

Paired with a small Tiffany dish or tray of the same diameter, era and in the same pattern, which could also be used as a small plate or condiment dish to hold creams or jams at tea time. The bottom of the strainer is rounded so it leans while sitting on the tray and the diameters are the same size but the tray would still catch any draining liquid. Antique pieces, dating to around the turn of the century as evidenced by the T date mark on the tray. Even though the hallmark is worn on the strainer, a google search of Tiffany sterling tea strainers will bring up several examples of this piece with the identical floral and fern design (some have ivory handles), and you can see the pattern is identical to the marked tray, and is a design recognizable as only Tiffany. No monogram anywhere on either of the pieces.

I mentioned the strainer marks above, and the tray is marked Tiffany & Co. In estate condition considering age, the tray was polished more when I received it so the patina does not exactly match as seen in photos, but the patina on the tray will darken in time to match the strainer, or the strainer could be polished more deeply.

I like background patina to make the designs stand out so I did not polish the tray and just lightly hand polished the strainer. I see a few shallow impressions on the bottom of the strainer and a few linear scratches that are indented along with a few other utensil scratches on the underside of the strainer. The dish has quite a few deeper utensil scratches and three that caused a shallow indentation giving the smooth base a slightly rippled affect, made more evident by the mirrored finish. They also both have surface wear from use and polishing over the years.

I don't see any dings, dents, bends or deep scratches to the repousse floral and fern design work. But please note that while the pieces are sturdy and have many years of use left, they are not in mint condition. Makes a very beautiful statement from one of the highest end makers of the time.

Strainer measures about 7 3/4 inches in length so it makes an impression and the strainer bowl and tray are both about 3-1/4 inches in diameter at the widest part. They weigh a combined 72 grams (including the wood handle) on my little digital scale. I have a few other tea strainers including a Tiffany spout strainer from the same time period listed as well so please check out my other listings. Tea aficionados say that the tea has better flavor when the loose leaves are brewed in the tea pot.

These little strainers are held over the teacup while you pour the tea from the pot, to catch any leaves that come out, effectively straining it on it's way into the cup. A very decorative AND useful item! I dearly love, collect, use and sell antique sterling silver flatware and housewares so please check out my other listings including Tiffany & Co. The item "2 Tiffany & Co Floral Fern STERLING SILVER Tray & Over cup Tea Strainer w handle" is in sale since Thursday, June 6, 2019.

This item is in the category "Antiques\Silver\Sterling Silver (. The seller is "callmemouse" and is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, Ukraine, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Barbados, Bermuda, Ecuador, Egypt, Iceland, Jordan, Cambodia, Sri lanka, Monaco, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Paraguay, Reunion, Viet nam, Uruguay.

Style: Repousse
Age: 1850-1899
Pattern: Floral Fern
Type: Serving Pieces
Brand: Tiffany & Co.
Composition: Sterling Silver