A VICTORIAN SILVER-PLATED AND OAK TANTALUS

PATENT MARK OF GEORGE BETJEMANN & SONS, LONDON, CIRCA 1880

Details

A VICTORIAN SILVER-PLATED AND OAK TANTALUS
Patent mark of George Betjemann & Sons, London, circa 1880
The wood stand with plated corner mounts and a sliding handle with side lock mechanism, fitted with three compartments for square cut-glass bottles with faceted stoppers, marked on sliding handle BETJEMANN'S PATENT 36087 LONDON and THE TANTALUS
14in. (36.5cm.) long

Lot Essay

George Betjemann & Sons was a well-known and prolific London-based manufacturing business. Originally established as a dressing case business by George Betjemann, it soon specialized in the manufacturing and retailing of novelty items. According to an 1894 article in The Stationary Trades Journal, this company "became probably the largest maker of fancy goods in the world; invented the Tantalus spirit stand of which [it] sold many thousands." (Quoted in John Culme, Gold and Silversmiths, London, 1987, p.43). Their products were exhibited at the 1878 Paris Exhibition and at the 1885 Inventions Exhibition in London