Early Teapot with Squared Rosewood Handle

An early teapot with a squared rosewood handle and a silver finial, this is Spratling's hollowware in its founding-decade form, the angular wood handle set against the silver body. It belongs to the First Design Period of 1931 to 1946.

The squared rosewood handle is the distinguishing note, the dark wood worked to a geometric profile against the rounded vessel. A slightly smaller version of the teapot was made bearing the earlier hallmark, WS print with Taxco and 925, a detail used to date and identify examples.

Early teapots from the first design period, carrying the founding hallmarks, are among the more sought-after pieces of Spratling's hollowware and reach the market only rarely.