Plain Irish meat skewer with flat blade, and shoulder pattern beneath ring. The hallmarks are very clear, note the lack of a duty mark, as duty was only introduced on Irish silver in 1808. Initials VG. Neville was an extremely well regarded Dublin silversmith, who served as Warden and Master of the Goldsmith's Company. He was elected to the Dublin City Council in 1807.

An interesting and well travelled Georgian silver butterknife, with carved mother of pearl (nacre) handle. The butterknife has a scimitar shaped solid silver blade, with irregular wavy top, engraved with reeded bands and fan decoration. The handle has carved beads, bands and a fan like structure, this gives a good grip and pleasant feel in the hand. A silver ferrule covers the join between blade and handle. The knife is clearly hallmarked with 5 Birmingham hallmarks, including makers mark LV&W for Ledsam, Vale and Wheeler, this mark used between 1826 (when Wheeler joined Ledsam & Vale) and 1834. The blade also has 3 additional hallmarks, the first a shaped V, a Dutch duty mark for foreign silver used between 1814 -1831, so the knife entered the Netherlands shortly after it was made. The other 2 hallmarks are French, Minerva facing right (guarantee mark for foreign silver) and the Bigorne (beak-iron) mark with insect, used as a counter mark between 1819 and 1838, all these marks are clear. the book "Pocket ...

A Cape silver tablespoon in the Old English pattern, with rare Cape hallmarks not shown by Welz in his book "Cape Silver and Silversmiths". The spoon has been well used, and has a small split (see condition description). The spoon has original owners initials CW engraved on it, the C is larger than the W, so probably done by the owner himself (overall quite quaint). The hallmarks consist of makers mark IL co-joined in oval punch, in between 2 "birds foot" devices, these marks are well struck and clear. The IL makers mark is mark 71 Welz, but the birds foot device is not recorded (Lotter also used a floral hallmark which is recorded). However, the birds foot device used by Lotter is recorded by Morrison (Silversmiths and Goldsmiths of the Cape of Good Hope, 1936, page 57, where this makers mark is pictured). A variant of this mark is also recorded by Heller (History of Cape Silver, 1949, page 151, mark MM40, which shows an extra arm to the birds foot). We can only assume this is a rare mark that was not seen b...

A Scottish Provincial silver tablespoon, made in Aberdeen by Peter Ross between 1819 and 1822. The spoon is Fiddle pattern, and has original owners engraved initials AGC. The hallmarks are clear. The hallmarks include makers mark PR between two A hallmarks for Aberdeen. Ross was admitted as an Aberdeen hammerman in 1819, but only lived for 3 more years until 1822 (Aberdeen Silver by Michael Wilson). His legacy is Fiddle pattern flatware, he is not known to have produced other silver items. Note - We have a matching pair of tablespoons S 1891.

An early Cape silver Fiddle pattern dessert spoon, by one of the most highly renowned Cape Silversmiths, Johannes Casparus Lotter (I). The spoon has an engraved family crest of a bird (possibly a dove), this is well engraved. The hallmarks are excellent, and include makers mark .JCL struck twice in between 3 floral devices with 7 petals. This particular combination of marks is not illustrated by Welz in his book Cape Silver and Silversmiths, it is a combination of marks 76 (a distinctive .JCL maker mark), only used by Johannes Casparus Lotter (I), and mark 78, where the 7 petal floral device is used by his son Johannes Casparus Lotter (II). These hallmarks are particularly well struck, so much so that damage to the bottom left corner of the makers mark punch .JCL can clearly be seen. This leads us to believe the punch was well worn, and given this is a Fiddle pattern spoon we can assume this spoon was made towards the end of his career. Given the floral device has only been recorded in work by his son Johanne...

A pair of Cape silver teaspoons in the Fiddle pattern, with excellent hallmarks. The spoons also have a very faint and crudely scratched owners initial S on the back above the hallmarks, barely visible. The individually struck hallmarks include makers mark JT for John Townsend, pseudo duty mark, pseudo date letter a, pseudo leopards head town mark and pseudo date letter J (Welz mark 122, but struck in a different order). John Townsend (1800-1875) was an interesting character, descibed by Heller as one of the top 5 Cape silversmiths. He arrived in the Cape in 1821 on the ship Duke of Marlboro, and was involved in a number of businesses, including a hotel and auctioneering business, in addition to being goldsmith, silversmith, jeweller and watchmaker. He was embroiled in a number of court cases, mostly due to bad debt, in 1849 he stated "insufficient means to support his 10 children". He moved to Okiep in Namaqualand in 1852 as Manager of Spektakel Copper Mine, but was insolvent by 1868. He died in 1875, and is...

A rare Cape silver Kings pattern (with diamond point} dessert spoon, by Fredrik Waldek. The spoon has original engraved initials HMC, and is very good quality and gauge, as is usual for Cape Kings pattern silver, very suitable for use. The hallmarks include makers mark FW with the Cape Stub mark (see article in our articles section) of 4 pseudo English hallmarks struck in a stub (Welz mark 165). Fredrik Waldek was also a chronometer, clock maker and jeweller. Heller (History of Cape Silver) commended Waldek for "excellent workmanship", this spoon is no exception. Only Waldek and Twentyman produced Kings pattern in the Cape.

A beautiful Irish Georgian silver sugar tongs, with bright cut engraving, Irish "Star" and shell style bowl. The tongs also have a well engraved Lions head family crest in one of the cartouches on the side. No initials are engraved on the bow. The tongs are very good quality, as you would expect from Irish Georgian silver. The tongs have 3 hallmarks, crowned harp for Dublin in rectangular punch with cut corners (used 1793-1809), makers mark JD in script in oval punch, and Hibernian duty mark. No date letter is present, as is usual on Georgian silver tongs (Hodges, Georgian Silver Sugar Tongs, pg 198). John Daly worked between 1786 and 1809, from the style of the tongs we place them circa 1795. Irish tongs by Daly are probably rare, as they were not recorded by Hodges in the book described above.

A rare Scottish Provincial pointed end tablespoon, with excellent hallmarks by a scarce maker. The spoon has script initial M (contempory) above the number 8, we assume its position in its original set. The spoon has some overall wear, but is a good weight, still a lovely spoon. Pointed end spoons are uniquely Scottish, the style was never adopted in England. The hallmarks are well struck and very clear, makers mark S.L struck twice, with the Dundee pot of lilies and date letter m. Similar makers can be seen on lot 190, Woolley & Wallis sale of a private collection of Scottish Provincial Flatware, January 2009.

Two Cape silver tablespoons in the Fiddle pattern, with engraved initials HV, attractively engraved by hand in Colonial style. The hallmarks are excellent, makers mark DB struck twice between 3 stars (Welz mark 15). Although from the initials we can see they are a pair, they are slightly different in quality, weight and condition. 1 spoon is beautiful, good quality, weight and condition, the other less so, it is lighter and has had a rougher life.

A Scottish provincial silver toddy ladle, made in Inverness by Donald Fraser, but hallmarked in Edinburgh in 1830. The ladle is Fiddle pattern and is plain. The hallmarks are very clear, including a large makers mark D.F.

An attractive pair of French Silver grapefruit spoons, with double shell and foliage pattern. These spoons have extremely rare and strange hallmarks. The first is the Giraffe's head Recense mark (Poincon de recense) for Paris, only used between May and October 1838, a period during which the hallmarking system was being changed. It was applied to verify authenticity of marks for the interim period. In addition, th spoons have the Paris assay office mark (medium, 1819-1838), and one spoon has the Paris silver standard 1 (950 grade), whilst the other has the Paris silver standard 2 (800 grade), which as the spoons are identical in every other respect by the same maker, must be an error by the assay master during a confused period. The spoons also have additional marks alongside the makers mark which we have not identified (see photo).

A rare Cape Silver twisted stem konfyt (preserve) fork, with spearhead handle and typical Cape floral engraving. This is similar to the pair (item S 1188), but the engraved flower lacks foliage and the only hallmark present is the makers mark, which is very clear.

Plain marrowscoop, by specialist spoonmaker Elizabeth Oldfield. This scoop is very dainty, being smaller than later versions. Oldfield was the widow of silversmith Charles Jackson, and had a previous mark as Elizabeth Jackson. She remarried in 1750, when the mark pictured here was registered. The hallmarks are clear, and the original owners initials "WY" are scratched in small letters next to the makers mark.

A good associated set of Onslow Tablespoons, of good gauge and with good ends, very pleasing to use. The 3 oldest spoons are original Onslow, and have the owners initials L+D scratch engraved on them. The 3 later spoons were converted in late Victorian times, a common practice (Ian Pickford comments in his excellent Flatware book that most Onslow pattern flatware that exists today is converted). A very faint butt joint can be detected on close examination with a loop, but is so faint it cannot be seen by the naked eye and is not visible in photographs. The hallmarks are all clear, the Adams spoons have an indented duty mark.

A rare pair of Prince of Wales' feathers picture back teaspoons, in the Hanoverian pattern, with Prince of Wales' feathers to the reverse of the bowl. The crown is well struck and clear, the feathers less well struck with some wear, but still clearly visible. As is typical for a teaspoon of the period, these Hanoverian pattern spoons are struck with two marks - lion passant and maker's mark. All the marks are squashed, the maker's mark could be W*L or possibly I*M, depending on which way you read the marks (all assistance welcome), with mullet between the letters. The spoons have no engraving, and are in great condition with just minor wear to the picture back. The motif on the back of the bowl probably commemorates the life of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales (1707-1751) and heir apparent to the English throne. He was the eldest and estranged son of King George II, but he pre-deceased his father and so the crown passed instead to his eldest son who became George III. John Luddington, in his book "Startin...

Two Chinese Export silver dessert forks in the Fiddle pattern, which we have grouped together as we believe they are by the same maker, Sunshing. The forks have slightly different sizes, shape and weight, the longer fork is slightly heavier at 46 grammes. The smaller fork has engraved script initials PK, this is worn. The larger fork has a turn up end, the smaller turn down, so 2 very different interpretations of Fiddle pattern , interesting to compare. The larger fork has clear makers mark SS, with distinctive font, for Sunshing, and 3 pseudo marks, duty mark, crowned leopards head (struck upsidedown, and indistinct), and a strange lion passant (without tail), these pseudo marks are different from the ones usually used by Sunshing, the punches are also showing signs of wear. The second fork has 4 pseudo marks but no makers mark, the 4 hallmarks are those usually associated with Sunshing (pseudo lion passant, crowned leopards head, date letter C and Georgian duty mark) - see www.925-1000.com. These marks are...

A Cape silver tablespoon in the Old English pattern, with rare makers mark, which is very well struck. The tablespoon has a long drop, and initials "TA" on the back of the spoon, dating this spoon to the 18th century. The marks include makers mark "IVC" struck twice, either side of a very clear fish hallmark, complete with mouth, eye, fins and scales, this hallmark is very well struck. This is mark 171 in Cape Silver by Welz, who lists it as an unknown makers mark. The fish in Welz is not as clear as this actual hallmark. Welz also depicts the mark as "I:VG", so it must be a different punch - the dots are not present here, but the C could easily be a G. This mark is also depicted by Heller (History of Cape Silver, Vol 1) on page 163, where the fish detail is clearly visible - he attributes this mark to Johann Voigt (?), indicating the attribution had not been proved. Overall an interesting and rare Cape silver mark, extremely clear, this needs further research.

A highly unusual Chinese Export silver tablespoon in the Fiddle pattern, complete with "pseudo English" hallmarks, used by Linchong of Canton, alongside Indian Colonial silver hallmarks, used by R.S. of Calcutta. The hallmarks are clear, and include the pseudo lion passant, crowned leopards head, date letter L and duty mark as used by Linchong of Canton, who made silver in the Georgian style. The Indian Colonial marks include makers mark RS (unidentified) and a tallymark (No. 18, Indian Colonial Silver, Wilkinson), the tallymark is thought to identify the journeyman who completed the piece. One possible scenario is that the spoon was produced in Canton, and imported into Calcutta, India by RS, who was possibly a retailer only. We would be interested in hearing other opinions on this unusual spoon. This very spoon and it's hallmarks is depicted in the book "Indian Colonial Silver" by Wynyard Wilkinson, page 116, where the author noted the lack of connection of the marks, but did not identify the maker Linchong...

A Chinese export silver dessert spoon and fork, in the Fiddle, Thread and Shell pattern. This pair is exceptionally good gauge, this is probably the heaviest dessert spoon and fork we have ever encountered, over 80 grams each, in fact heavier than many tablespoons and forks. They are typical of the good quality, early Chinese export silver that imitated the plain English Georgian silver styles. The hallmarks are clear on both, and include "pseudo English" crowned leopards head, duty mark and lion passant, along with makers mark CC. The lion hallmark punch is quite distinctive, the right hand edge merges with the back leg of the lion. CC is an unidentified silversmith who worked from Canton between 1800 and 1850, generally producing good quality silver.