This silver teapot bears the mark of Sebastian Garrard of Garrard and Co., appointed the first official Crown jeweller of Britain by Queen Victoria in 1843, a position which they held until 2007. Although originally founded by George Wickes in 1722, Robert Garrard became partner in 1792 and took sole control in 1802, where it remained in the family until 1946. The teapot’s shape is reminiscent of the ‘bullet’ teapots fashionable in the 18th century, whose spherical bodies supposedly resembled that of a round musket ball.
