A Cape silver Fiddle pattern tablespoon, with a set of extremely rare Cape silver hallmarks. The hallmarks include makers mark LT, and pseudo marks that include date letter A, lyre and duty mark. These marks are shown by Welz in his book Cape Silver (mark 144, page 156), they are also shown by David Heller in his book History of Cape Silver (mark MM84, page 156). The makers mark, A and lyre mark are well struck and very clear, the duty mark is worn at the top. The date letter A is quite distinctive, with one arm much thicker than the other.

A Cape silver konfyt fork in the Old English pattern, with 3 tines. The fork has engraved original owners initials MMR, quite quaintly engraved, possibly by an amateur. The makers mark is very well struck and very clear, makers initials ICL between 2 floral devices with 7 petals (Welz mark 78, page 150). Lotter worked at the Cape between 1811 and his death in 1823, he shared a name with his father Johannes Casparus Lotter, who was also a silversmith (12 members of the Lotter family practised as silversmiths).

A set of 2 Cape silver Fiddle pattern tablespoons, by a lesser known Cape silversmith whose work does not appear very often. The spoons are a slightly different length (being handmade) and have similar but different hallmarks, so they were probably made at different times. Both have makers mark DC in between two floral or star devices, but both the makers mark and devices have differences, indicating they were struck by different punches. One DC makers mark has separate DC, the other DC appears to be cojoined. The floral or star device was used by a number of Cape silversmiths, including Beets, Hockly, Lotter, Townsend, Twentyman and Vos. The makers mark DC between 2 stars is depicted in Heller's Cape Silver Vol 2 (pg 122), where it is shown as mark NMM15.

A rare Cape silver condiment ladle, this is only the 2nd one we have encountered. The ladle is Fiddle pattern, similar in shape to a salt spoon, but with a long elegant handle, 3 to 4 cm longer than a salt spoon, the bowl is also more angled, and the handle has a very pronounced turn over for ease of use. The bowl is gilded, the original gilding is in quite good condition, a deep gold colour inside the bowl (note scratches from use), much more faded on the bowl exterior, but still visible. The ladle has 2 notches on the rear of the handle, where an extension was added to the more usual sized salt spoon, but we are confident this is original, as no solder marks are visible, so we imagine it was made on special order. The hallmarks are clear, makers mark LT and 4 pseudo hallmarks (crowned leopards head, date letter a, duty mark and lion passant), this is mark 135 in Cape Silver by Welz. Note: We have sold a previous Cape silver condiment ladle, S11128, by Fredrik Waldek, who took over Twentyman's shop on the He...

A rare Cape silver tablespoon in the Old English thread pattern, we have only noted 2 examples of Cape silver in this pattern in the body of literature. The spoon is the usual Old English shape, but with a double thread around the edge, this is double struck (occurs on the front and back of the spoon). The spoon is engraved with original owners initials IM in script. The spoon is hallmarked with makers mark IC, the mark is slightly blurred, we assume the punch was worn when it was struck. The spoon is also hallmarked with the "Cape Stub", 4 pseudo - English hallmarks (lion passant, date letter, duty mark and leopard's head) struck mechanically in a fly press (see article on Cape Stub in "The Finial, 2007, and in the articles tab above), these marks have some wear but are still clearly visible. We believe this spoon was made by hand, you can see differences in how the thread has been applied. Please note our condition report, this spoon has been well used. David Heller, in his book "History of Cape Silver Vol....

A rare Cape silver table fork in the Fiddle and Shell pattern, examples are known to exist but these are regarded as rare. The fork is single struck (pattern only on the front), the shell is a lovely feature. A similar example is depicted the book "Further Researches in Cape Silver" by David Heller, page 68, plate 13, also made by Lawrence Twentyman. English versions of this pattern are also scarce, mostly made in Scotland and Newcastle, London versions are rare (Pickford, Silver Flatware, page 114). The hallmarks are clear, makers mark LT and 4 pseudo hallmarks (crowned leopard's head town mark, date letter a, duty mark and lion passant), this is mark 135 in Cape Silver by Welz. Note: We have 2 other examples of this fork, S 11436 and S 11437.

A rare and interesting Cape silver Masking or Mash spoon, in the Old English pattern. The spoon is teaspoon size but has a much longer handle, these spoons are called Masking or Mash spoons, they were used to stir the teapot. Most of the known Masking spoons are Scottish Provincial in origin, but they are known in the Cape (see S189 for a similar example made by Jan Lotter, cousin of Carel David, which we have sold). The spoon has no engraving, and clear makers mark CDL between 2 star devices (Welz mark 64). Carel David Lotter, part of the Lotter family of Cape silversmiths, worked between 1812 to 1848.

An interesting pair of Cape silver dessertspoons, engraved with an original family crest of winged castle turret below circular cross. The spoons are Fiddle pattern, and are very pleasing quality and weight. The hallmarks are also very clear on both spoons, pseudo duty mark, pseudo castle town mark with flag flying, pseudo date letter C and makers mark LT (mark 140 in Cape Silver and Silversmiths by Welz). What makes these spoons interesting is the different sized makers mark, one has the usual larger size LT punch, the other has a much smaller LT punch, we assume intended for hallmarking smaller items. Twentyman was the most prolific of all Cape silversmiths, he had the first shop on Heerengracht (now Adderley Street) with a shop window. He worked between 1818 and 1832. Note - These spoons match the pair of tablespoons S11352. Note 2 - With the assistance of a customer, we have now identified the engraved crest as the Heathcote family, described as "On a mural crown, a sphere charged with a cross, between tw...

A Cape silver konfyt fork in the Old English pattern, with 3 tines. The fork is hallmarked with makers mark OA in oval punch, this is faintly struck but still visible, between two square devices with 4 dots, these are both clearly struck ( Welz mark 2). Ahlers worked as a silversmith between 1810 and his death in 1827. He married the widow of silversmith Jan Brevis, which may have facilitated his entry into the trade. He was the son of Oltman Alders of Germany, his mother was Dorothea of Bengal, who presumably arrived in the Cape as a slave. His silver is quite scarce.

A set of 3 Cape silver tablespoons by Johannes Combrink, who worked in Cape Town between 1814 and 1853. These spoons are excellent quality and robust, well suited for use. The spoons resemble the Old English pattern, but are Continental in design, with a V shaped drop, strong lip on tip and flattening to the top half of the handles. Given the Continental style of these spoons, which is confined to early Cape flatware, we can assume they were made early in Combrink's career, probably between 1814 (when Combrink started producing silver) and 1820, when the English 1820 settlers arrived in the Cape, bringing with them English styles. Each spoon has a small identification nick on the back at the top of the handle (1-2 mm). The makers mark IC (Welz mark 32) is clearly struck on all 3 spoons.

A rare Cape silver condiment ladle, the only one we have encountered. The ladle is Fiddle pattern, similar in shape to a salt spoon, but with a long elegant handle, 3 to 4 cm longer than a saltspoon. The hallmarks are clear, the Cape Stub mark with 4 pseudo English marks, and makers mark FW. The stub mark is slightly worn at the bottom, the makers mark is clear. Waldek had a long career in the Cape between 1830 and 1877, he took over Twentyman's shop on the Heerengraght in 1836.

A pair of Cape silver table forks in the Fiddle pattern, without any engraving. The forks are in excellent condition, they have not seen much use at all. Both forks are clearly hallmarked with makers mark LT and 4 pseudo hallmarks (lion passant, duty mark, date letter a and crowned leopard's head town mark), this is mark 135 in the book Cape Silver by Stephan Welz.

A Cape silver konfyt fork in the Fiddle pattern, with 3 tines. The fork has the original owners initials PJS, quite quaintly engraved in Colonial style.The fork has excellent hallmarks, they could not be better. They include makers mark MLS and the leaf device, with the veins clearly visible (Welz mark 117). Smith was a Dane who arrived in the Cape as a VOC employee in 1757 aged 35, he died in 1806. He led an interesting life, he married 4 times, and had 10 children.

A pair of Cape silver Fiddle pattern table forks, with traditional pseudo English hallmarks, which are clear on both forks. 5 hallmarks are present (Welz mark 4 in his Cape silver book, although struck in different order), they include makers mark LB, pseudo lion passant (quite fat with "camel hump"), pseudo Georgian duty mark, pseudo 3 turreted castle town mark (copy of Edinburgh town mark), and date letter a (which is struck upside down). Lodewyk Beck worked between 1847 and 1867 from Shortmarket Street and Greenmarket Square (still a vibrant market today), he was one of 6 Cape silversmiths who used pseudo English hallmark punches.

A rare Cape silver tablespoon by unknown maker M.I.V., with a good makers mark. The spoon is Fiddle pattern, in good condition but with wear to the tip from use, and no engraving. The makers mark M.I.V. is fairly well struck but slightly worn, note the specific placing of the dots (first 2 higher than last). This is makers mark 178 in Cape Silver by Welz (page 158), where the specific placing of the dots is clearly illustrated. This mark is also recorded by Heller in Further Researches in Cape Silver Vol. 11, mark N.M.M 56, page 126, also with the unusually placed dots clearly illustrated. Note - We have a second example of this spoon, with a slightly clearer makers mark, see S 11464.

A Charming Cape silver Konfyt (preserve) fork, in the Old English pattern, with 3 tines. The fork has a large oval drop, which along with 3 tines (later forks had 4 tines), shows it's age. The fork has makers mark only, quite clear, it appears to be HNS, this is mark 175 in Welz, Cape Silver. This mark is recorded as "unknown" by Welz, but is now thought to be a worn punch used by Daniel Heinrich Schmidt, the greatest of all the Cape Silversmiths (Heller and Welz) - see the similarity with Schmidt's DHS mark, Welz mark 110.

A rare Cape silver sauce ladle, in the Old English pattern, made by Johannes Combrink circa 1820. The ladle has a long drop, which given the date shows it's Colonial nature, and has nice proportions. It is engraved with an attractive family crest, a bent raised arm holding a dagger, this is very crisply engraved. The ladle has 2 makers marks, both clearly struck, (Welz mark 31). Johannes Combrink was born in the Cape in 1781, he married Aurelia Lotter in 1807 and died in 1853. He worked from Dorp Street.

A set of 2 Cape silver dessert forks in the Kings pattern, one by Lawrence Twentyman and the other by Fredrik Waldek. These forks match S 1864 and S 1865, we have put these 2 together to show an unusual variance in length. Whilst both are Cape Kings pattern dessert forks, they have a 1.2 cm difference in length (the shorter fork is also lighter, 54 vs 62 grammes). The difference is the stem only, the decoration top and bottom is identical, as are the length of tines. It is believed that Twentyman imported dies for Kings pattern to the Cape circa 1830 and that Waldek took over the dies in 1836, but we cannot explain the difference in length, all suggestions welcome. We have carefully studied the forks, there is no evidence they have been lengthened or shortened. The forks are double struck (pattern on both sides), and have the diamond heel, as is usual with Cape silver Kings pattern. Cape silver in Kings pattern is quite rare, it was only produced by these 2 silversmiths, Twentyman and Waldek, who took over T...

A pair of Cape silver dessert forks in the Kings pattern, by Lawrence Twentyman. The forks are very good quality and gauge, a pleasure to hold. The forks are double struck (pattern on both sides), and have the diamond heel, as is usual with Cape silver Kings pattern. Cape silver in Kings pattern is quite rare, it was only produced by 2 silversmiths, Twentyman and Waldek, who took over Twentymans business. The hallmarks are very clear on both forks, and include pseudo lion passant, Georgian duty, date letter a and crowned leopard's head, along with makers mark LT. The forks have no monograms or engraving, and none has been removed.

A pair of Cape silver dessert forks in the Kings pattern, by Fredrik Waldek. The forks are very good quality and gauge, but a little shorter than usual. The forks are double struck (pattern on both sides), and have the diamond heel, as is usual with Cape silver Kings pattern. Cape silver in Kings pattern is quite rare, it was only produced by 2 silversmiths, Twentyman and Waldek, who took over Twentyman's business. The hallmarks are very clear on both forks, and include pseudo Georgian duty, date letter a and crowned leopard's head, along with makers mark FW, which is slightly worn. The forks have no monograms or engraving, and none has been removed. Waldek had a long career as a Cape silversmith, chronometer, clockmaker and jeweller, he worked between 1830 and 1877. He took over Twentyman's shop and partnership on Heerengracht in 1836. The forks have shorter stems than other examples, see S 1866 for a comparative example.