Antique silver bachelor tea set

Small and very pretty Victorian three-piece silver bachelor tea set comprising a silver teapot, milk jug and sugar bowl. Each piece is hand-chased in fine detail with flowers and foliage. The milk and sugar have gilded interiors and the teapot is fitted with its original insulators in the handle to prevent it getting too hot.

The bachelor tea service is a charming set of antique silver, being simply a smaller version of a full-size tea set, but intended for one person. Occasionally mistaken as part of a child's tea service, they are deliberately petite and were created long before the advent of the tea bag!

Possibly the oldest manufacturing silversmith in the world, Barnard Brothers made pieces of the finest order. The large silver-gilt baptismal font used at the baptisms of members of the British Royal Family is a fine example of their work.