Designer: Lurelle Van Arsdale Guild (1898 – 1986) 

Item: Gift Ware Contempory Group “His Royal Highness” coffee service.  Coffee pot, creamer and sugar

Description: An extremely rare surviving set.  This service is in the collections of the Dallas Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Museum. 

Manufactured by: International Silver Company

Country of origin: United States

Year made: 1934

Materials: Silverplate over brass and ebony 

Dimensions: Coffee pot 12” x 9 ¼” x 6 ½”, creamer 2 ¼” x 6 ¼” x 4”, sugar bowl with lid 4 ¾” x 6 ¼” x 3 “1/2”

Condition: Good to very good.  Monogrammed.  Some noticable spots of silver loss on the creamer and sugar due to 80 years of polishing, but not obtrusive considering the rarity of this set.  The photos show it very clearly, but in person it is much less noticeable.  No dents.  All pieces signed in Guild’s script signature as with other designed made by International Silver, and with all appropriate markings.  The photos show some tarnishing at the base of the pieces that we missed polishing prior to photographing, but it will come off.

References: Stern, Jewel.  Modernism in American Silver: 20th Century Design, Yale University Press, 2005; Gordon, John Stewart, A Modern World: American Design from the Yale University Art Gallery 1920 – 1950, Yale University Press, 2011.