Elegant Hawkes Venetian Champagne Pitcher – SOLD

This is a beautiful pitcher in Hawkes’ Venetian pattern. This older pattern displays Hawkes’ finest early work. The cutting is wood wheel polished for that almost silky feel and the tall, deep vesicas are even left unpolished for a striking contrast in technique. A pitcher identical to this one sold for $1300 at the last Woody Auction and can be seen at proxibid.com.

I love the extension of the Venetian pattern down the entire length of this pitcher. The top of the pitcher begins with fans and a chain of 8-point hobstars. Flowing across the rest of the pitcher are huge split-vesicas of unpolished crosshatching. These vesicas are extremely deep and this is exemplified when examining the pitcher from the bottom (see photo). The base of the piece is covered in an undulating rayed star and the handle is triple notched.

The piece is in perfect condition with only the lightest scratching on the base. It’s quite heavy and measures 11 3/4″ tall and 4″ across the base. Again, one of these just sold for $1300 and I’m offering this for considerably less. An elegant piece of the early Brilliant Period.