James W. Tufts Quadruple Plate Victorian Pickle Jar

By Loreen Caverly, 22 October, 2011
Description

I am looking for any value and/or historical information on this unique piece, which is in very good to excellent condition, actually, for its age. It looks to perhaps be hand painted on a hand-blown blue pickle jar and has a set of tongs that sit aside the jar. There are some very faint chips around the mouth of the jar but not very noticeable at all. only when running your fingers around it. There are four cracks along the bottom of the scalloped silver base. The bottom mark reads "James W. Tufts, Boston, Warranted, Quadruple Plate, 3397."

Category
General Antiques and Collectibles
Medium
Silver/silver plate?
Distinguishing marks
James W. Tufts/Boston/Warranted/Quadruple Plate/3397
Condition
Good
Size and dimensions of this item
Whole unit stands 9-1/2" tall at highest dimension; pickle jar itself is 6" high and mouth is 2-1/2" wide while jar is 3-1/2" wide at its widest dimension in middle.
Date Period
Mid to late 1800s
Weight
1.5 pounds
History
This was inherited from my mother-in-law, who inherited it from an old elderly aunt who lived in New York who had many antiques in her house. It was rumored that this was a wedding gift of this aunt's mother's.
eBay Auction Link
Price Paid (If known)
Family heirloom
For Sale?
No
Photos

Loreen Caverly

13 years 7 months ago

When I posted this item, I guess I hadn't registered to this site correctly and my contact information does not show here. My email address is: [email protected]

If anyone has any info about this piece or any idea of its worth, I welcome your input!  Thank you.

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Candy jar?  Interesting.....we were always told it was a "Victorian pickle jar."  I guess I had assumed it came over from England or something and was surprised to see "Boston" on the bottom of it when I cleaned the silver off enough to read it.  

Thanks for whatever help you can give :-).   

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It's a pickle castor, but it appears that much of the plating has worn off of it. These were a hot item up to the early 1990's when the Victoriania craze peaked. I tried to post a link for you to pickle castors sold at auction this past year , but triggered the antispam system of this forum, but if you go here http://www.liveauctioneers.com and type "Pickle castor" in the search box, anything listed at auction for that term will turn up. It should show hundreds under the "Sold" link.

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Thank you for your input!  And my mother-in-law came into possession of it around 1989, also, from this elderly great aunt whose estate she inherited. It was always a treasured antique that was worth "so much money," supposedly. I will look it up on your link and research it. :-)   

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