Copper Loving Goblet

[bovoril]

Copper Hammered Goblet. Was silver plated in the 1930's. Art work on main body of goblet depicts Adam and Eve and the serpent. Signed by "F.Versace."  Lip is slightly damaged. Stands about 9 inches high.

Age prior to 1900.

Cannot get any info on the sculptor as search engines all go to Versace of the clothing kind!

Would like to know what value it may have.

[waywardangler]

Why would someone take a pre-1900 goblet and silver plate it in the 1930s? Was that the thing to do then? I can find no info on F. Versace either. Very odd. I think the value is minimal due to the damage and that fact all original patina was gone during silver plating and is also gone now.

[mariok54]

I can't find anything for F or even E Versace either 

[bovoril]

The silver has not been polished for some years as it was in storage. It was silver plated because at the time,silver was in! I was told a metalsmith/silversmith can remove the plating and reveal the copper?

[waywardangler]

The original surface (patina) is gone.

[ironlord1963]

First it appears Brass and not Copper.  The relief art appears pressed and I see no signs of hammered, Base is mass produced machine made.  To silverplate a item after it is made is very expensive, because of the cleaning required and for the most part is not worth it, and the only possible silverplate that is left is the lower part of the relief.  To have this done would be really expensive, and around the 30's Silverplate was on it way out of popularity.  The style of the art would say Art novea period maybe deco, but not sure about Victorian in age.   It is a unique item but with the damage, value would be somewhat low, even if it is signed, but that signature looks to be part of the mold and not personnaly engraved.

[wendy177]

Agree Ironlord  on several points - signature looks to be part of the mold it also looks to me - if it is Adam & Eve they brought Mike & Frank along because is it me or do I see one girl & three men? also the bottom looks to be a candle base that was added later & the  top rim looks to have been put on at a later date also & not done as well as the cup piece in the center. I would consider this a cup (middle piece) that someone tried to turn into a vase to display by adding the top & bottom pieces. In my opinion if the center piece was alone it would be beautiful.

[mariok54]

So, a marriage made in Eden? 

That might explain why only the centre piece looks as if it were once plated.

[mart]

I agree with Wendy,, that top piece has been added and not very well !!

[bovoril]

Thanks for your insight. Now it makes sense the lower stand is different from the "cup". That is why it was plated, to match the bottom. Why would someone do that?

Being copper, maybe the original cup stand was broken off? The Top lip always looked a bit off, so maybe that was added to?


Any value ideas?

[bovoril]

The signature F. VERSACE. is definitely pressed/carved into the metal.

[ironlord1963]

     If you can get a pic of the top of the base, where it meets the bowl we might be able to establish if it was a marriage.  I'm still a bit confused about it being copper, like I mentioned earlier sure looks brass to me.   Also still confused about the plating part, is it possible to get a close up of the image are that has been plated.  If I understand this right, it was plated so the lower parts of the relief art is silver, or am I really confused here.  To make this happen, espicially after the item has been aged for years would cost a few hundred dollars to do back in the 30's.  The item would have to be cleaned, and then plated and then the upper part would have to have polished back down to the base metal.   Guess I am just easily confused tonight.

[cogar]

I think your goblet is a brass Arts & Craft piece and all original.

Don't be messin with it until you get it apraised or whatever.

Electroplating

The plating is most commonly a single metallic element, not an alloy. However, some alloys can be electrodeposited, notably brass and solder.

When plating is not desired on certain areas of the substrate, stop-offs are applied to prevent the bath from coming in contact with the substrate. Typical stop-offs include tape, foil, lacquers, and waxes.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroplating 

 

[KC]

I am leaning with cogar on this one!