A Cape silver tablespoon in the Fiddle pattern, with pseudo English hallmarks. The spoon bowl is long and elegant, and the spoon is good quality and is pleasing to hold. The hallmarks are very clear (Welz mark 148 in Cape silver) and nicely detailed, even hair is visible on the duty mark, and the flag is visible on the castle. The base of the duty mark is cusped, and the makers mark LT is also clear.

This spoon has an original inscription, "IIH en EL, 1812". These are presumably the initials of the owners and the date of their wedding. A set of 6 tableforks by the same maker and with the same inscription are pictured in David Heller's 2nd Cape Silver book, "Further researches in Cape Silver", page 46, plate 5, with description on page 41. An additional pair of tableforks with the same inscription are present in the Africana Museum, and are pictured in the book "Cape Silver" by Stephan Welz, pg 67.

Plain Cape silver tablefork in the Old English pattern, with original owners initials lightly scratched on back (MF). Hallmark very clear, makers mark struck twice, either side of a flower (or bunch of grapes). Jan Lotter was an excellent silversmith who made most of the cape orangespoons (lemoenlepels) found today. He traded from Keerom St.

A rare Cape silver berry teaspoon, in the Fiddle pattern, with gilded berried bowl and decorated handle. The spoon must be well travelled in it's early life, as the spoon was made in Cape Town circa 1830, and probably "berried" in London in mid to late Victorian times, when the practice of "berrying" was popular (this practice is unknown in Cape silver). Plain Georgian silver spoons were embossed and chased with fruit and foliate scrolls (Pickford, Silver Flatware, pg 70), and the bowl was gilded to complete the effect. The hallmarks are very clear, makers mark FW and pseudo English hallmarks (leopards head, date letter a, duty mark and lion passant), these are mark 163 (Cape silver by Welz). These are the same punches used earlier by Twentyman, Waldek took over Twentyman's shop and workshop in 1836.

A Cape silver salt spoon, in the Fiddle pattern, with original gilded bowl, and original owners initials TB. The original gilding is a light lemon colour, worn and scratched from use, but still clearly visible and quite charming. The hallmarks are clear, and include makers mark PD for Peter Clarke Daniel, alongside pseudo hallmarks date letter B in indented punch and Georgian duty mark (Welz mark 42, page 148, Cape Silver). Peter Clarke Daniel was born in Dublin, he arrived in the Cape with the 1820 settlers as a child.

A Cape silver teaspoon, in the Fiddle pattern, by Johannes Combrink. The spoon has original owners initials HV engraved on the stem, the engraving is most attractive. The teaspoon has an unusual drop with incised curve. The spoon is marked with makers mark IC (Welz mark 30, Cape Silver, pg 147), this is very well struck and clear. Note faint scratch mark JER near hallmark, we presume a previous owner, visible in photo, not really visible normally unless you look close in good light.

Fiddle Pattern Konfyt fork, typical of those produced in the Cape. The fork is engraved "Irene". Konfyt forks were made and sold as individual items in the Cape (Welz, Cape Silver). The hallmarks are very clear, makers initials MLS between 2 Fleur de Lys (one is unclear). Smith was a VOC employee from Denmark who arrived in the Cape in 1757. He married 4 times, had 10 children and died in 1806.

Cape sauce ladle with very clear hallmarks, the makers initials struck twice between 3 roses. Beets was the illegitimate son of the German Balthus Beets of Neubrandenburg and the Cape slave Angana.

A Cape Silver tablefork in the Old English pattern, with very clear Cape silver hallmarks. The marks include makers mark IL in circular punch struck twice, with an attractive flower mark (mark 74 in Cape Silver by Welz). This fork has contemporary rough, lightly scratched initials MT, probably the original owner, on the back of the fork. This matches item S1148, which is already sold. Jan Lotter was an excellent silversmith, who made most of the Cape lemoenlepels (orange spoons) found today. He traded from Keerom Street, and probably died young, as he only worked between 1813 and 1817.

Pair of Cape Fiddle pattern Tableforks, by the highly regarded silversmith John Townsend. The length of the tines is good, and the forks have very clear Pseudo English hallmarks and makers mark. The initials CJH are engraved on the back of the forks. Heller described Townsend as the most versatile of all the English silversmiths at the Cape, capable of excellent craftmanship.

A Natal Mercury sterling silver Medal, awarded in 1928 by N.A.R.A. The medal has a winged Mercury, the Roman messenger of the Gods, running across a bridge, surrounded by "Natal Mercury 1928". The reverse has a laurel wreath, and is engraved "N.A.R.A. won by" - with no name engraved. The Natal Mercury is South Africa's oldest newspaper, established in 1852, and still running today, it still uses Mercury as it's logo. We are not sure what NARA stands for, perhaps Natal Amateur Running Association? The mercury logo is also used by the Comrades Marathon, the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race, 89 km's between Durban and PieterMaritzburg, established in 1921. All finishers received a silver medal until 1931, we are not sure if this medal was intended for the comrades. We have also seen a 9 carat gold version of this medal.

A Cape silver salt spoon, in the Fiddle pattern, with original gilded bowl. The original gilding is a light lemon colour, worn and scratched from use, but still clearly visible and quite charming. The hallmarks are clear, and include makers mark PD for Peter Clarke Daniel, alongside pseudo hallmarks date letter B in indented punch, date letter a and Georgian duty mark (Welz mark 41, page 148, Cape Silver). The presence of 2 different pseudo date letters is unusual, it appears Daniel was the only Cape silversmith who did this, perhaps he lacked understanding of the English hallmarking system. An original owners cross hatch scratch mark is also visible below makers mark, this is small and does not detract. Peter Clarke Daniel was born in Dublin, he arrived in the Cape with the 1820 settlers as a child.

A pair of Fiddle pattern Cape tableforks, with clear English Pseudo hallmarks, but no makers mark. As these marks were only used by Lawrence Twentyman, we can be certain of the maker.

Typical Cape konfyt fork in the Fiddle pattern, with an unknown makers mark, not recorded by Morrison, Heller or Welz. The mark is clear, JB between an unknown device, possibly a bird?

Typically Cape konfyt fork. Smith was a Dane who arrived in the Cape in 1757 as a VOC employee. The hallmark is partially obscured, with only LS of the MLS visible (overstruck?), but his 2 distinctive leaves are clearly visible.

Beautiful and rare Cape spoon of unusual size and shape, with engraved initials AMW. It is teaspoon size but has a long stem, leading us to believe it is a mash spoon. Mash spoons were used to stir the teapot to assist brewing. Lotter produced very fine silver, although only for 4 years (1813-1817), indicating he probably died young. Very distinct makers mark.

A Cape silver salt spoon in the Fiddle pattern, with original gilding to the spoon bowl. The gilding is a lemony colour, and quite well preserved, some scratches from use. The hallmarks are very clear, Welz mark 121, 3 pseudo English marks (duty, date letter a and lions head town mark) are individually struck. The makers mark JT looks like it has been double struck, this is still clear. 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 buried in the Springbok cemetery....

A Cape silver tablespoon in the Old English pattern, of good gauge, very suitable for use. Whilst the spoon is Old English pattern, the drop is definitely not English in style, it has a European flavour (which shows the different influences on Cape Silversmiths of the time). The hallmarks are very clear, makers mark WGL, this is very clearly struck in rectangular outline, which is unusual for this makers mark which is usually worn. The home made punch letters can clearly be seen, and the rectangular outline means it was struck early in his career before the punch became worn. The makers mark is between 2 oval "face" device marks, regularly used by Lotter (mark 88 in Welz, Cape Silver). We are not convinced this is a face as depicted by Welz, more research is required. The Lotter family are important in the history of Cape silver, with 12 members of the family known to have produced silver. Willem Godfried, who made this spoon, worked from 1810 - 1835, and is known for good quality work. David Heller described...

Plain Cape butterknife with scimitar blade, and clear Pseudo English hallmarks. The makers mark is not present, but these particular Pseudo marks were only used by Twentyman (mark 134 in Welz, Cape Silver).

Cape Silver tablefork (Fiddle pattern) with interesting horse crest, initials HR and very clear hallmarks. The hallmarks include Pseudo English marks and the makers mark.