Antique Arts & Crafts Silver, Chrysoprase & Baroque Pearl Pendant By William Hair Haseler For Liberty & Co c. This is a beautiful and original early 20th century, Arts & Crafts era pedant and chain. The striking looking pendant has been made in the Celtic entrelac style, which was much favoured by Liberty & Co, and one of its famous designers, Archibald Knox in the first decade of the 20th century. The piece is marked WHH for William Hair Haseler, the Birmingham silversmith who was contracted to produce Liberty & Co’s Cymric silver and their Tudric pewter range. It’s known that Haseler produced work for Liberty, manufacturing the designs of Archibald Knox, Oliver Baker, Rex Silver, Jessie Marion King & Bernard Cuzner to name a few. When sent for assaying they would often be marked with the L&Co mark for Liberty & Co – but, Haseler was known to have simultaneously produced the some of same pieces, but with his WHH mark on. Many of these WHH marked pieces found their way to Liberty’s department store and were retailed from there. It would seem that the idea of the protection of designs in the early 20th century was not as robust as it is now – popular designs were often shared and used by various silversmiths (perhaps under some license agreement). I’ve seen pieces made by both Liberty & Co and Murrle Bennett which are identical. This pendant is made from sterling silver and is simply marked’Silver’ to the reverse side – I’ve seen a number of Haseler pieces marked this was and the absence of full U. Hallmarks should not be a concern whatsoever. The front side has Celtic knot work style patterns, and there are two chrysoprase cabochons set into the silver – around the stones you can see where the silversmith has’pinched’ the silver mount around the stone, a feature I’ve noted on Haseler produced jewellery in the past. Hanging from the bottom of the pendant is a fresh water pearl drop, also known as a baroque pearl. The piece is further marked on the teardrop shaped bail (see image 6) – this reads’Sterling Silver’. The accompanying chain appears to be contemporary to the pendant, but it could possibly be a replacement – this is marked to the spring clasp’STG 925′. The pendant’s dimensions are. Height with drop: 4cm. Chain length: approximately 17 inches. The condition all round is very good indeed – naturally, this item is around 116 years old, and in that respect there are perfectly normal signs of use and wear commensurate with age. The pedant is solidly made with a closed back – the green stones are securely set and the pearl drop is in good condition. The chain is in good order, with the clasp work exactly as it should – incidentally, the chain could be replaced with a longer one of your own if desired. Altogether this a lovely piece by a highly collected silversmith – Haseler’s associations with Liberty & Co would almost certainly point towards this design being from the Liberty sketchbooks. The only other example of this pendant I’ve found was from a specialist dealer, and it was identical in respect of the stones used and marks to the back. Please study the images provided to satisfy yourself as to the condition of the item offered – if you have any further questions, please ask! The item “Antique Arts & Crafts Silver & Chrysoprase Pendant W. H. Haseler For Liberty c1905″ is in sale since Friday, December 3, 2021. This item is in the category “Jewellery & Watches\Vintage & Antique Jewellery\Necklaces & Pendants”. The seller is “century-antiques-uk” and is located in Wigston. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Country of Origin: United Kingdom
- Colour: Silver
- Number of Gemstones: 3
- Liberty & Co: Liberty & Co Jewellery
- Archibald Knox: Archibald Knox Jewellery
- Arts & Crafts Jewellery: Arts & Crafts Pendant
- William Hair Haseler: William Hair Haseler Liberty & Co
- Type: Pendant
- Secondary Stone: Pearl
- Vintage: Yes
- Year Manufactured: Pre-1920
- Signed: Yes
- Brand: Antique
- Main Stone Shape: Cabochon
- Handmade: Yes
- Country/Region of Manufacture: Great Britain
- Main Stone Colour: Green
- Style: Pendant
- Base Metal: Sterling Silver
- Theme: Art
- Original/Reproduction: Original
- Antique: Yes
- Metal Purity: 925
- Metal: Sterling Silver