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A beautiful antique teapot, 5" tall and about 9-1/2" from spout to handle made by hand in late Biedermeier Neoclassical style (Ca.1840-50), with a melon shaped body, elegant heart shaped spout and bone insulators. Made of solid `12 Loth` silver, (75% pure silver); the gross weight on my postal scale is 554 grams (17.8115 Troy oz.)
The bottom is stamped with '12, indicating 12 Loth silver (750/1000 purity), the traditional legal assay standard for German silver prior to the uniform 1888 national standards.Above the '12' is another mark which is partially worn, and is most likely the city stamp but I can't get a clear enough impression to look it up.
Stamped "AE" inside a clean rectangular box (Kastenstempel) for the maker's mark. After much research, I wasn't able to find the exact maker, but have narrowed it down to several provided by Google while researching smiths working in Germany using 12 Loth silver in that time period. Suggestions were: Adolf Frisch, August Felenstein, August Ehrenberg (Berlin), Alphonse Ebel, August Ehrenhardt (Hanau/Frankfurt ) and Albert Erdmann (Silesia/Breslau). These are possibilities, as I'm not able to find the exact match to the mark. Condition: About 1" on the edge of the foot slightly pushed in (see red arrow in photo) and there is a chip in one of the bone insulators (see last photo), and the lid finial is a little loose and can be tightened with the proper tool. One of the pins at the bottom of the handle is present but came out of place, causing the handle to wobble. The pin can be fixed by a jeweler or someone who works on antique silver (or you, if you have patience and technique). Or, you can leave it as is if it's not going to be used for serving liquids. Aside from this, it is in very good shape and a real beauty, given that it is well over 150 years old.
The teapot had a heavy layer of tarnish when I received it, solid black in areas, and I used hot water and Wright's Cream Polish to clean it (the bone parts did not get wet), then a jewelry flannel to bring up the shine. There are still some small spots of tarnish left because I didn't want to go so far as to alter the finish. It glows very nicely as it is now. I'll leave the decision concerning further polishing to its new owner.
Your teapot will be shipped free of charge via USPS Priority Mail. Sold as shown, as is.
