G.E. USHER AND A.H. JEPHCOTT FOR DRYAD METAL WORKS, LEICESTER
ARTS & CRAFTS FOUR-PIECE TEA SERVICE, BIRMINGHAM 1919
silver, set with turquoise cabochons, comprising a TEAPOT, 14cm high; a HOT WATER JUG, 19.3cm high; a SUGAR BOWL, 10cm diameter; and a MILK JUG, 8.4cm high, each with stamped maker's marks DMW, and hallmarked Birmingham 1919
Teapot height: 13cm weight (all in): 35oz
Literature: The Studio Yearbook, 1917, p.94, where a similar tea service is illustrated and captioned as 'Designed by G.E. Usher, executed by A.H. Jephcott in the Dryad Works.'Note: Dryad was formed in 1906 by Harry Peach and Benjamin Fletcher, head of Leicester School of Art. Initially producing cane furniture, it soon branched out to produce other Arts & Crafts artefacts. Dryad Metal Works was established in 1912 when William Pick of Collins & Co., Birmingham, and a former pupil at Leicester School of Art, joined Harry Peach in partnership. From 1917 they produced simple but well-made designs predominantly provided by John Sidney Reeve and other instructors at the Leicester School of Art. John Sidney Reeve was a silversmith who had formally worked for Charles Robert Ashbee and the Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden. The Collins and Co. mark was used between 1915 and 1919, after which the DMW stamp was used.