A Butler’s Work is Never Done!
Wickham Place is the London home of Lord and Lady Southgate, their children and staff. Located in fashionable Belgravia it is a fine Georgian terrace house.
Today we are below stairs in the Butler’s Pantry. Lord Southgate is hosting a small dinner for some of the members from the House of Lords this evening: influential men whom he hopes to curry favour with in order to pass a private member’s bill regarding the city’s parks and gardens. This means extra work for Withers the Butler. Whilst Cook enjoys herself as she prepares a fine repast for the gentlemen in the adjoining kitchen, Withers busies himself with one of his most hated jobs: cleaning the silver, which is in need of a good polish. Having selected the wine for the dinner and pulled out Lady Southgate’s modish new tea service for an expected afternoon caller, he can now set about polishing the silver. He has laid out the green baize, fetched his cleaning cloths and withdrawn the container of Silvo Silver Cleaning Paste from beneath the Butler’s sink.
The theme for the 17th of April “Looking Close… on Friday” is “Candle Holder”, and the four examples of candle holders sitting on the table waiting to be polished seemed the perfect choice for the theme. The three prong candelabra is an artisan piece of sterling silver made in Berlin and is actually only 3 centimetres in height and 3 centimetres in width. The two Victorian candlesticks are also artisan pieces of sterling silver made in England and are only 2 ½ centimetres in height and ½ a centimetre in width at the base. The avant-garde Art Nouveau candlestick in the form of a woman with foliate decoration is also an artisan piece of sterling silver made in America and is 3 centimetres in height and ½ a centimetre in width at the base. These are part of my 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures collection. Some pieces come from my own childhood including the pair of silver Victorian candlesticks and the 1:12 wax candles in the foreground, which I was given as part of my tenth birthday present. The other two candle holders I acquired as an adult through specialist online dealers and artists who specialise in 1:12 miniatures.
The Butler’s Pantry is situated on the ground floor of Wickham Place, adjunct to the magnificent formal dining room and adjoining the Wickham Place kitchens. The Butler’s Pantry is the preserve of Withers as Butler to Lord and Lady Southgate, and it is well appointed. It has a white enamelled Butler’s sink and deep cupboards to house the necessary glassware and china such a fine house requires. You can just see some of the gilt white Paragon dinner service in the cupboards to the right, and some of Lady Southgate’s new Royal Doulton tea service on the right of the Butler’s sink. On the left of the Butler’s sink stand several bottles of wine: a German Moselle, a French Burgundy and a French champagne chosen by Withers from Lord Southgate’s cellar. The silver on the table consists of a Georgian and an Edwardian lidded serving dish, a Georgian tea caddy, an Edwardian sugar caster, mustard pot and pepper pot (part of a larger cruet set) two Victorian single candlesticks, a three prong Edwardian candelabra and a very avant-garde Art Nouveau candlestick in the form of a woman with foliate decoration. Once shone to a gleam with the aide of Silvo Silver Cleaning Paste and his blue silver cleaning cloths, Withers can replace the spent candles with fresh Price’s Carriage Candles from the box. The gold plate and the silver, both in use and on display in the house, would have been fetched by Withers from Wickham Place’s strong room.
Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:
The silver on the table includes a Georgian and an Edwardian lidded serving dish, a Georgian tea caddy, an Edwardian sugar caster, mustard pot and pepper pot (part of a larger cruet set) two Victorian single candlesticks, a three prong Edwardian candelabra and a very avant-garde Art Nouveau candlestick in the form of a woman with foliate decoration. All the pieces are sterling silver miniatures and are copies of genuine articles. All are made by artists in England except the three prong candelabra and the sugar castor which are German and the Art Nouveau candlestick in the form of a woman with foliate decoration who is American made. The sugar castor of 1 ½ centimetres in height and half a centimetre in diameter in the foreground with its holes in its finial actually comes apart like its life size equivalent. The finial unscrews from the body so it can be filled. I am told that icing sugar can pass through the holes in the finial, but I have chosen not to try this party trick myself. A sugar castor was used in Edwardian times to shake sugar onto fruits and desserts.
The box of Price’s Carriage Candles contains twelve artisan made wax candles like the two in front of the box. The design of the box is Victorian. Price’s was established in 1830 and still exists today. They received the Royal Warrant to Queen Victoria after making Sherwood candles for her wedding. By 1900 they were the largest manufacturer of candles in the world, producing 130 differently named and specified sizes of candles. They supplied candles for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Phillip Mountbatten in 1947 and received the Royal Warrant of Queen Elizabeth II after supplying candles for her coronation in 1953.
The green baize cloth on the table is actually part of a green baize cleaning cloth from my linen cupboard, and the two sliver cleaning rags are cut from one of my own old Goddard silver cleaning cloths. The Silvo Silver Polish tub was made by me, and the label is an Edwardian design. Silvo was a British silver cleaning product introduced to market in 1905 by Reckitt and Sons, who also produced Brasso. Like Price’s Candles, Silvo also has a Royal Warrant.
The dresser on the far right of the picture contains a gilt white china dinner service for eight. On display you can see some plates, a coffee pot and a gravy boat.
The Butler’s sink is littered with interesting items. On the far left is a sterling silver biscuit barrel based on a Victorian design. There are also three bottles of wine: a German Moselle, a French Burgundy and a French champagne. There is also the sucrier (lidded sugar bowl) which is part of a set which also appears to the right of the sink. That set is hand painted and gilded and is based on a Royal Doulton design from the Edwardian era. Near the taps is a box of Sunglight soap and a jar of Vim, both cleaning essentials in any Edwardian household. Vim scouring powder was created by William Hesketh Lever (1st Viscount Leverhulme) and introduced to the market in 1904. It was produced at Port Sunlight in Wirrel, Merseyside, a model village built by Lever Brothers for the workers of their factories which produced the popular soap brands Lux, Lifebuoy and Sunlight. Sunlight Soap was first introduced in 1884.
A Butler’s Work is Never Done!
Wickham Place is the London home of Lord and Lady Southgate, their children and staff. Located in fashionable Belgravia it is a fine Georgian terrace house.
Today we are below stairs in the Butler’s Pantry. Lord Southgate is hosting a small dinner for some of the members from the House of Lords this evening: influential men whom he hopes to curry favour with in order to pass a private member’s bill regarding the city’s parks and gardens. This means extra work for Withers the Butler. Whilst Cook enjoys herself as she prepares a fine repast for the gentlemen in the adjoining kitchen, Withers busies himself with one of his most hated jobs: cleaning the silver, which is in need of a good polish. Having selected the wine for the dinner and pulled out Lady Southgate’s modish new tea service for an expected afternoon caller, he can now set about polishing the silver. He has laid out the green baize, fetched his cleaning cloths and withdrawn the container of Silvo Silver Cleaning Paste from beneath the Butler’s sink.
The theme for the 17th of April “Looking Close… on Friday” is “Candle Holder”, and the four examples of candle holders sitting on the table waiting to be polished seemed the perfect choice for the theme. The three prong candelabra is an artisan piece of sterling silver made in Berlin and is actually only 3 centimetres in height and 3 centimetres in width. The two Victorian candlesticks are also artisan pieces of sterling silver made in England and are only 2 ½ centimetres in height and ½ a centimetre in width at the base. The avant-garde Art Nouveau candlestick in the form of a woman with foliate decoration is also an artisan piece of sterling silver made in America and is 3 centimetres in height and ½ a centimetre in width at the base. These are part of my 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures collection. Some pieces come from my own childhood including the pair of silver Victorian candlesticks and the 1:12 wax candles in the foreground, which I was given as part of my tenth birthday present. The other two candle holders I acquired as an adult through specialist online dealers and artists who specialise in 1:12 miniatures.
The Butler’s Pantry is situated on the ground floor of Wickham Place, adjunct to the magnificent formal dining room and adjoining the Wickham Place kitchens. The Butler’s Pantry is the preserve of Withers as Butler to Lord and Lady Southgate, and it is well appointed. It has a white enamelled Butler’s sink and deep cupboards to house the necessary glassware and china such a fine house requires. You can just see some of the gilt white Paragon dinner service in the cupboards to the right, and some of Lady Southgate’s new Royal Doulton tea service on the right of the Butler’s sink. On the left of the Butler’s sink stand several bottles of wine: a German Moselle, a French Burgundy and a French champagne chosen by Withers from Lord Southgate’s cellar. The silver on the table consists of a Georgian and an Edwardian lidded serving dish, a Georgian tea caddy, an Edwardian sugar caster, mustard pot and pepper pot (part of a larger cruet set) two Victorian single candlesticks, a three prong Edwardian candelabra and a very avant-garde Art Nouveau candlestick in the form of a woman with foliate decoration. Once shone to a gleam with the aide of Silvo Silver Cleaning Paste and his blue silver cleaning cloths, Withers can replace the spent candles with fresh Price’s Carriage Candles from the box. The gold plate and the silver, both in use and on display in the house, would have been fetched by Withers from Wickham Place’s strong room.
Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:
The silver on the table includes a Georgian and an Edwardian lidded serving dish, a Georgian tea caddy, an Edwardian sugar caster, mustard pot and pepper pot (part of a larger cruet set) two Victorian single candlesticks, a three prong Edwardian candelabra and a very avant-garde Art Nouveau candlestick in the form of a woman with foliate decoration. All the pieces are sterling silver miniatures and are copies of genuine articles. All are made by artists in England except the three prong candelabra and the sugar castor which are German and the Art Nouveau candlestick in the form of a woman with foliate decoration who is American made. The sugar castor of 1 ½ centimetres in height and half a centimetre in diameter in the foreground with its holes in its finial actually comes apart like its life size equivalent. The finial unscrews from the body so it can be filled. I am told that icing sugar can pass through the holes in the finial, but I have chosen not to try this party trick myself. A sugar castor was used in Edwardian times to shake sugar onto fruits and desserts.
The box of Price’s Carriage Candles contains twelve artisan made wax candles like the two in front of the box. The design of the box is Victorian. Price’s was established in 1830 and still exists today. They received the Royal Warrant to Queen Victoria after making Sherwood candles for her wedding. By 1900 they were the largest manufacturer of candles in the world, producing 130 differently named and specified sizes of candles. They supplied candles for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Phillip Mountbatten in 1947 and received the Royal Warrant of Queen Elizabeth II after supplying candles for her coronation in 1953.
The green baize cloth on the table is actually part of a green baize cleaning cloth from my linen cupboard, and the two sliver cleaning rags are cut from one of my own old Goddard silver cleaning cloths. The Silvo Silver Polish tub was made by me, and the label is an Edwardian design. Silvo was a British silver cleaning product introduced to market in 1905 by Reckitt and Sons, who also produced Brasso. Like Price’s Candles, Silvo also has a Royal Warrant.
The dresser on the far right of the picture contains a gilt white china dinner service for eight. On display you can see some plates, a coffee pot and a gravy boat.
The Butler’s sink is littered with interesting items. On the far left is a sterling silver biscuit barrel based on a Victorian design. There are also three bottles of wine: a German Moselle, a French Burgundy and a French champagne. There is also the sucrier (lidded sugar bowl) which is part of a set which also appears to the right of the sink. That set is hand painted and gilded and is based on a Royal Doulton design from the Edwardian era. Near the taps is a box of Sunglight soap and a jar of Vim, both cleaning essentials in any Edwardian household. Vim scouring powder was created by William Hesketh Lever (1st Viscount Leverhulme) and introduced to the market in 1904. It was produced at Port Sunlight in Wirrel, Merseyside, a model village built by Lever Brothers for the workers of their factories which produced the popular soap brands Lux, Lifebuoy and Sunlight. Sunlight Soap was first introduced in 1884.