S & J Stodel, Vault 24
Stephen and Jeremy Stodel are experts and leading dealers in Chinese silver teawares, especially items from the second half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. They also buy and sell Japanese silver and 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century British teawares. The brothers started buying and selling silver as a tempo- rary job between school and university but found that they loved the work and made it their profession. They sometimes come across very rare Chinese silver teapots that date back to the last decades of the 17th century, when early shipments of Chinese tea also brought teapots and other teawares into London. “In China and Japan, silver was a minor art,” explains Stephen. “So it was only the Emperor and a few of his courtiers who owned silver vessels for serving food and drink. At that time, very few pieces were made. But in the 18th and 19th centuries, westerners became the customers, and some extraordinary pieces were manufactured. Commissions were taken by agents who would sponsor an entire trip to China and bring back highly valuable silks, spices, and teawares.” Most Chinese silver teawares that the Stodels acquire today “date back to the 19th century when westerners started visiting China as tourists, merchants, statesmen, and members of the armed forces. They wanted to buy keepsakes or gifts for those back home, and so purchased silks, spices, tea, and teapots.” When the first export silver teapots were made in China, the designs often copied western style and decoration. But, as consumers in the West became more used to Chinese teawares, they wanted Chinese designs. So, dragons, bamboo, chrysanthemums, and plum or cherry blossoms decorated the outside of caddies, pots, and kettles. The Stodels’ business is thriving. American buyers have always made up a high proportion of sales, and today, more and more Chinese buyers are also visiting the Vaults in search of suitable pieces to sell back home. Stephen adds, “We also have regular customers who seek out, for example, caddies, tea jars, or teapots, or who collect the work of particular silversmiths, such as Hester Bateman and other female makers. We’ve worked with one collector for more than 30 years, and quite a number of our customers have become good friends over the years.”
Once you have browsed the Silver Vaults and talked to all the traders whose silverwares were of interest, don’t leave the neighbourhood without wandering past the jewellery boutiques on Hatton Garden, popping into one of the historic pubs nearby, or sampling some of the street food sold from market stalls that line the entire length of Leather Lane, which has been a street market for around 400 years. Then, wander south through the quiet gardens and courtyards of the ancient Inns of Court, realising that all you’ve seen in this historic part of our capital city illustrates the intertwining of so many aspects of the social and business life of Londoners who have lived or worked here.
Contributing Editor Jane Pettigrew, an international tea expert who has written many books on the subject, including her most recent, Jane Pettigrew’s World of Tea, is a recipient of the British Empire Medal. A former tearoom owner, she is a much-sought-after consultant to tea businesses and hotels, a conference speaker, and an award-winning tea educator who is co-founder and director of studies of the UK Tea Academy. Although her travels have taken her around the globe, she resides in London.
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