Maison CARDEILHAC (company active 1804-1951), Tea set

consisting of a teapot (H. 17.5 cm, W. 20 cm, D. 11 cm), sugar bowl (H. 11.5 cm, W. 11.2 cm, D. 9.4 cm) and creamer (H. 7.5 cm, W. 10.4 cm, D. 6.4 cm);
sterling silver, 1(950) hallmarked (French Assay Guild with Minerva's head and numeral 1), CARDEILHAC / PARIS and goldsmith's mark EC in rhombus); weight 921 g.
Paris, period of Ernest CARDEILHAC (active 1885-1904) - 4th quarter of the 19th century (after 1885).
Vessels on bent legs ending in hooves, overlapping pear-shaped bodies at the base. The lids of the teapot and sugar bowl are exalted and finished with a knob. The spout of the teapot is in the form of a spout with a blackened wooden ear on an axis; the sugar bowl has c-shaped ears composed of twigs with vine leaves at the base; the milkshaker has a wooden, turned, diagonally set handle.
The factory was founded in 1804 by Antoine-Vital Cardeilhac. From 1851 to 1885 it was run by his son Armand-Edouard, and from 1885 by his grandson Ernest. In 1904, Armand's widow Amelia took over the plant, and in 1920 Ernest's sons Jacques and Pierre took over. In 1951, the factory merged with another well-known French goldsmith company, Christofle.