A pair of Austrian plated two-handled urns

A pair of Austrian plated two-handled urns, one on a raised base, and both on circular mirror plateau bases,
by Stephen Mayerhofer, also marked with the Imperial eagle,
campana form, part-fluted decoration, the interiors with a raised vase, one on a raised circular base, with foliate borders, both on mirror plateaux, with foliate borders, on four steel paw feet, with two replacement wooden bases, height of urn 32cm, diameter of plateaux 56cm. (7)

At the end of the 18th century, Stephan Mayerhofer (1772-1852) was a maker of 'silver-plated wares on iron and steel', and by 1802 was a maker of 'English plated wares', presumably in reference to the Sheffield plate system of sandwiching metal between sheets of silver. The double-headed eagle mark denoting Imperial and Royal privilege for an 'iron and metal English-plated wares factory' was awarded in 1808. The firm of Mayerhofer and Klinkosch, and later as J.C. Klinkosch, eventually rose to become Austria's leading 19th century silver and luxury goods manufacturer.