Alexandria Hotel - Los Angeles 1918 Silver Wine Chal (02/18/2011)...

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Alexandria Hotel - Los Angeles 1918 Silver Wine Chalice

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Alexandria Hotel - Los Angeles 1918 Silver Wine Chalice

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Sold Date: 02/18/2011
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Advertising

Offered for your consideration is a 1918 – large 5 ¼” tall by 4” wide (across the top) chalice – challis wine cup or shrimp cocktail holder (possibly even both) made for the Hotel Alexandria that was located in Los Angeles, California. This pattern is very rare and highly sought after by not only hotel silver collectors, but also by those who collect ancient Greece – Roman themed items.

Historically, construction on the Alexandria started in 1905 and was officially opened on May of 1906 at 501 South Spring in downtown Los Angeles. The 8-story 350-room hotel was designed by famed architect John Parkinson, which his other monumental projects included the Los Angeles City Hall, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and Union Station.

The hotel was also a very important social center in Los Angeles and the Hollywood area also. Many famous celebrities Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, Humphrey Bogart, Rudolph Valentino, Greata Garbo, Douglas Fairbanks, and even Clark Gable. The hotel was also host to many politically important persons, including United States Presidents, William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Theodore Roosevelt. Even British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill stayed at the hotel when he was visiting the United States, as well as King Edward VII in the early part of the 20th Century..

In 1912, the Hotel underwent a major $5 million dollar renovation that increased the hotel’s size to 11-stories and 700 rooms, making it one of the largest in the Los Angeles area. In 1915, the President of the Hotel was A.C. Bilicke, the Managing Director Vernon Goodwin, and Morgan Ross managed the hotel.

The hotel provided wonderful amenities for its guest. The hotel also operated over the years some of the finest restaurants and cafes in the Los Angeles area. These included the Franco Italian Café (later the Palm Court), which included wonderful Tiffany glass skylights, the Peacock Inn coffee shop, and the Indian Grill cafeteria in the 1920’s. Later on, the hotel operated the Masque Room, Continental Room, and in 1950, it operated the Pompeian Room. The hotel operated throughout most of the 20th Century, but eventually closed. Today, the former hotel has been completely renovated and is now apartments. It is called “The Alexandria”. During this era that this chalice was made and used, persons arriving in Los Angeles to stay at the hotel would have primary arrived by either the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, San Pedro, or Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroads. The hotel also provided transportation for its guest to and from Union Station. It was also that Los Angeles was one of the primary locations on the West Coast for Trans-Cont. railroad passenger service between Chicago and Los Angeles.

On the side of the chalice is the embossed image of two roman coins. From what I have been able to research, these coins (or coin) Represented wn out of Macedonian, When Demetrius Poliocretes when moved his Army out of Macedonian to where he had his last remaining support, i.e. Phoenicia -Tyre. Poliocretes was welcomed back and in about 285 BC, he used old obverse dies of Alexander the Great and put new reverse dies on the other side (with his own name) for coinage in Tyre. This embossed roman coin image has the wording “ALEXANDRIA” underneath the images that goes very well with the overall theme of the hotel.

This larger chalice would have been used in the dining rooms, restaurants, cafes, or for room service at the hotel for either a large serving of wine or for placing large shrimp on the side for shrimp cocktail service in a formal setting. It would have also been used in connection with the Alexandria Hotel china and glassware for table service. It is the heavyweight type Steamship, Restaurant, and Railroad silverplate, and is not a souvenir.

The server was made by the Reed & Barton Silver Co., has the catalog number of 16, is silver soldered, and is marked in larger letters “ALEXANDRIA” and has the date of 2-16-18 on the bottom. It has the usual light usage scratches, a few minor pit m...