I was talking to David Wiesand about his sale today, and he kindly agreed to let me try and sell some of my things there. So as I was looking for bits and bobs to sell, I came across this piece, which I’d found in some ghastly thrift shop a few weeks ago.
It was pitch black when I found it, and it took quite a lot of elbow grease to get it as clean as it is, but I am still not finished.
It has a coat-of-arms on the lid, but it’s sort of generic, with a lion and griffon rampant and a suit of armor’s head, 
It has little paw feet,
and a gadrooned edge.
At first, I thought it was a cigarette butler, but it isn’t really the right style for that, and it’s a bit bigger than the ones I’ve seen. It’s about 8.5 inches from side to side, and 11 inches from the handle to the leading edge.
Any ideas?
*** I've had one like this for many years (purchased at the open air "flea" (GOOOOOD fleas!) market, on Portobello Rd. in London), and my Grama said it was called something like a "table butler" (she had one, too), used to sweep crumbs off the table/tablecloth... I have a silver handled, soft brush (rather large) and a long, silver, flat "scoop" (for lack of a better word) to use with it....
ReplyDeleteThat's all I PERSONALLY know... maybe someone else has been told differently???
Good luck!
Linda in AZ *
bellesmom1234@comcast.net
Chafing dish?
ReplyDeleteNo idea, but I've learned a new word: gadrooned!
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe it is part of a crumbing set although it seems a bit bigger than most.
ReplyDeleteHi Meg,
ReplyDeleteIt is called a Silent Butler. Definition from Auction bytes:
Usually made of copper, brass, or aluminum, a silent butler is "a small receptacle with a handle and hinged cover, used for collecting ashes and crumbs." (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition, 2009.) It's akin to the more common crumb tray into which debris on a tablecloth would be brushed.
Hope this helps. If you google images you will see many similar examples.
Good luck with your sale!
Di
Hi Meg--looks like a silent butler to me. But it is a bit different from the usual. Have a great day. Mary
ReplyDeleteShouldn't all butlers be silent anyway? (Unless of course they're asked a question.) Downton is no help, as all that touchy-feely between and betwixt the upstairs and downstairs just simply did not happen.
ReplyDeleteI'll go with bed warmer. What the heck.
ReplyDeleteI thought bed warmer pan too until I saw the feet -so I'll go with the table butler suggestion! You find the greatest stuff! Sometimes I'm glad I don't have a car to take me to all these sales and things to spend all of my money!
ReplyDeleteI'm in agreement with the table butler (it's too small to be a bed warmer, and feet wouldn't make sense)...and totally agree that if I got started on antiquing with you, I would be in biiiiiiiig trouble!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a silent butler. My mother had one and passed it around at her bridge parties to collect finished cigarettes. It was the 50's, early 60's!
ReplyDeletebest, teaorwine
Bridge how does one learn bridge is there a bridge app for the dum er smart phone
ReplyDeleteSilent Butler! these were from my grandmother's era. I have one that she left me.
ReplyDeleteNever more -- is it a Poe toaster Happy birthday dear edgar--- sweep off the celebratory cake crumbs from the table
ReplyDeleteWhat LindainAZ said. I grew up with a silent butler too.
ReplyDeleteSilent butler without a doubt. Or in my house, "candy dish".
ReplyDeleteSilent butler, although ours was square so you could place it next to the edge of the table and sweep off crumbs. I also have a different type with a rolling brush on the bottom, that I brought with me to Taiwan.
ReplyDelete--Road to Parnassus
One more vote for crumber. It would make a wonderful portable snack bowl for Connor when he's traveling in the back of his open-air Phaeton.
ReplyDeleteCatching up on months of posts. A silent butler? Love it. Never heard of one. I was going to comment and say it could be a powder holder - put your face powder in it with a puff LOL!
ReplyDeleteYup. Silent butler. Gorgeous, too. I'd go downstairs for that one!
ReplyDeleteI'm hooting, here! My mom purchased a copper one in the 60s (I want to say at some type of home party), and all I heard the first week after she got it was, "Fetch me the Silent Butla." She was Southern, smoked, and was so thrilled to dump her ashtrays into this lidded contraption, just to turn around and empty the, "Silent Butla" whose lid noisily clanked. Yours is much more elegant, but its purpose is still to hold ashes of sorts!
ReplyDelete