An early and complete silver cruet set made by A E Jones Ltd in 1904.

The set consists of a silver pepper castor, two silver salts with original spoons and a silver mustard (with a silver spoon but not original). All of the pieces have a hand planished finish. It’s rare to find a complete set from the very early, and in my opinion, best days of A E Jones Ltd. At this time the firm had only a small number of craftsmen producing only the finest Arts & Crafts metalwork.

This set appears in an early A E Jones catalogue dating to around 1905 (image shown). The set was also featured in the Art Workers Journal of 1907, page 177 where it states that “Of this work a good instance is the table silver of Mr. A. E. Jones, a fine craftsman, whose work needs no ornamentation than is given by his skill and appreciation of the beauty of his materials“.

All pieces except for the mustard spoon are fully hallmarked for A E Jones Ltd, Birmingham, 1904.