INTRODUCTION:

Tea strainers were necessary utensils in the time before tea bags were invented about 1904 by Thomas Sullivan.  Unlike plique a jour spoons which were purely  decorative and seldom if ever used, enameled tea strainers were fully functional.  These plique strainers offered a hostess opportunity to show off a rare and exotic souvenir while serving tea to her guests.

Unmarked.

This strainers is the work of David Andersen.  No other maker was as proficient in enameling multicolored single cells.  The whirling repose pattern in the bowl is a deluxe feature.

Enlarge this image to study the multicolor cells.

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Unmarked

This gaudy strainer probably was made by Marius Hammer.  Note that most all the cells are single colors. In the few that are 2-colored, the boundary between colors is fuzzy. 

 

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Marked “MH 930S”  (Marius Hammer, Bergen)

Hammer used this flower design in a desk seal also.

 

 

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Marked “925 and David Andersen logo with S”

This is the standard version of the design.  An open salt was also offered with a similar flange of flowers. 

 

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Unmarked.

This is deluxe version of the design.  The flange and handle are identical with 4.2.4, but the bowl is plique too.  An example of tempting the buyer to “buy up”.

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Marked “I.T.  950”  (J. Tostrup)

 

 

 

 

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Unmarked

Undoubtedly the work of David Andersen.  The designs at the 4 compass points are an enamelist’s tour de force.  Enlarge the image to see that the purple color has been pulled into the cream color, precisely repeated 4 times.  This was done in wet, unfired enamel.  The Master’s work, not the journeyman’s

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Marked  “Sterling”, no maker’s mark.

Likely the work of J. Tostrup based on the similarityof the flange design with that of 4.2.6

 

 

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