An unusually-shaped silver plate pickle castor by Meriden that has a very pretty blue thumbprint glass insert with enameled design of a cucumber. I love the honey comb design with a little bee in the center of each segment on the body of the metal holder.The heavy metal frame was silver-plated. The base of the frame has an apron to hold a glass insert. From this base arises a handle with a hook to hold the ornate tongs. The tongs have claw like grippers for the pickles with decorative medallions further up. The finial at the top is a mirrored flower design. Where the handle attaches to the apron is an elaborate floral motif. The apron is entirely covered by repeating honeycombs with a little bee in the center of each. The base rests on four ornate floral motif feet. There is a repeating ridge band above the feet. There is an elaborate metal lid with an urn-like tall finial that fits the jar exactly. The lid edge has a recurring etched floral ring. The metal has polished up somewhat but could use a re-plating.The hand blown glass jar has a thumb print design and then was hand painted with cucumbers and vines encircling the jar. The glass is a celestial blue color. You can see a polished pontil mark underneath.There is a mark on the underside of the apron that reads, MERIDEN SILVERPLATE CO. QUADRUPLEPLATE in a circle around a lion rampant and an etched number 0630.MEASUREMENTS 10 ??a€ (26.7 cm) tall x 6a€ (15.2 cm) long x 5 ??a€ (14.0 cm) wide. Weighs 2 lb 0.4 oz (920 g)CONDITION There are no dents, cracks or breaks in the metal. There is a tiny rim chip; however because the cucumber stem extends to the rim and covers the chip, I believe the chip was an original manufacturing flaw. They must have done this purposely to camouflage the chip. There are no other chips, cracks, or breaks in the glass. The enamel painting is intact and bright. There are wear scratches on the base of the glass jar from repeat contact with the metal base. There is some silver but it is mostly polished off. It still has a bit of a shine.A colorful, ornate example of the Victorian era that will look great in a window or in your Victorian d??cor. The bee design is awesome.Item ID: S-1833