Victorian Sterling Silver Teapot with Floral Embossing

• Sterling Silver - Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver, and is relatively soft and the addition of the very small amount of copper gives the metal enough strength and hardness to be worked into jewellery, decorative and household objects.
• Embossed / Repousse - Embossing, also known as repousse, is the technique of decorating metal with raised designs, by pressing or beating out the design from the reverse side of the object.It is the opposite of chasing, where the decoration is applied from the front. An embossed or repoussed object may have chasing applied to finish off the design.
• Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.
  
  The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.
• Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.
  
  Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins.
• Angell Family of Silversmiths - There were a number of members of the Angell family who were silversmiths, commencing with Joseph Angell I (also expressed as Joseph Angell, Senior), and his brothers John Angell and Abraham Angell.
  
  On the retirement of Joseph Angell I in 1948, from what had become the leading London silverware workshop, the business was taken over by his son, Joseph Angell II (also expressed as Joseph Angell, Junior), (1815 - 1891).
  
  Joseph Angell II exhibited at the at the 1851 Great Exhibition, the 1853 New York Exhibition, and the 1862 International Exhibition winning medals at each event.
  
  His career is marked by the rich silver items crafted and decorated with chiseling, reliefs and enamels, including trays, tea and coffee sets, jugs, centrepieces and vases
  
  The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds a number of silver objects by Jospeh Angell II.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Angell family (England) - silversmiths 67
• Angell, Joseph (London) - silver, maker or retailer 36
• tea pots - silver items 742