Name for tray

Other than tarnished. Wilcox. Patent Aug 27 1878. Big part is 10-1/2 inches across.

 

I thought it was a samovar tray! But your thing is much better!

 

What is a fairy pot? Simply a small sized one?

EDIT: Aaaah, I see, the ebay listing water pot actually has a fairy design!

 

Interesting suggestion, but not a spirit kettle because those usually hang from a stand - this one has nothing to hang from.

 

The design of your tray looks Japonisme' to me, circa 1870's perhaps?

 

Yes, Darkwing - patent date of 1878 is in Terry's OP. Also referred to as Aesthetic Period.

 

The piece with the fairy is not a pot, it's a pitcher - appears to be insulated, with a hole in the bottom to release condensation and a small interior lip, so was likely sold as an 'ice pitcher' or 'ice-water pitcher', rather than a plain 'water pitcher'...

~Cheryl

 

I think that marriage is a joke. None of the three go together. This has zero wear where a pitcher would have been if that was the purpose.

 

Sorry, I missed that bit, crouching under the photo!

 

I agree, it's a marriage. The seller did indicate as such. But I did find one other water pitcher, tray and goblet set with this configuration, but the photo is poor and I can't tell if the patterns matched. The majority of water pitcher sets I have seen are tippers. Hellish to re-sell, I have one sitting on my back shelf that I can not move along.

 

Possibly may have had glass dishes that would have set in the 2 areas for something that had a sauce accompaniment. ???

 

I found one more similar. They don't know what it was used for either. https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/44225068_unusual-c1878-victorian-aesthetic-silverplate-tray

 

It's a water set tray - this particular shape is more common with the tilting ice pitchers, but have seen ones like this before...


Here is a Tufts set with similar tray and matching pieces engraved for an 1887 anniversary - they could have goblets, tumblers or cups (sometimes two), and occasionally a waste bowl too: https://www.rubylane.com/item/378674-2015017/Antique-James-Tufts-Quadruple-Silverplate-Water





Here are some water sets from an 1891 retailer's catalog:





Though the illustration seems to have little to do with this tray, the Wilcox-assigned patent for that date is for an "Improvement in Waiters", "...consisting of of a principal tray and an auxiliary tray elevated above the principal tray and set back from one edge of the principal tray, substantially as described."







Guessing the tray on this tilting water set from a Wilcox catalog is more in tune with the patent, the goblet tray elevated from the well under the pitcher:




~Cheryl

 

Slightly OT, but check out this fabulous pattern!