Antique Silver Edwardian Argyle Made in 1904

A splendid Edwardian silver argyle with a vase-shaped body. The argyle has a reed border on the base, the top of the main body and on the lid. The lid is pull-off and has a ball finial. The argyle has a swan neck and a fruitwood handle. The interior of the argyle has a central heating chamber for hot water to keep the contents hot. Dimensions: height to finial 24.2 cm John Campbell, the fifth Duke of Argyll, and his wife, Elizabeth Gunning, Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon, hated the way that gravy arrived cold to their table from the kitchens of their Inveraray Castle during the cold Scottish winters. The Duke (1723 – 1806), succeeding his father, the fourth Duke of Argyll in 1770, was the promoter of a new piece of tableware designed to maintain the warmth of the gravy in its vessel. This, with a bit of imagination, was the origin of a warmer called ‘argyle’ (silver argyle, silver argyll) in honour of the noble family that first made a wide use of this device. Silver argyle (silver argyll) is a gravy-warmer made in various shapes – similar to a covered coffee pot with one handle and one spout. The gravy is kept warm by means of hot water contained in a compartment created by a double exterior wall.