A rare set of 6 Scottish Provincial teaspoons, with engraved initial J. They are an unusual pattern, Fiddle without shoulders, and the edges are bevelled. Each spoon is slightly different, clearly each spoon has been made individually by hand. Each spoon is hallmarked with 3 "pot of lilies" followed by makers mark WC. The marks on 3 spoons are excellent, well struck and very clear, on 2 the bottom right hand corner is not visible, and on 1 spoon the marks are partially visible (but the pot of lilies still clearly visible) - as is often found with makers individually struck by hand. The pot of lilies townmark (azure a pot of growing lilies argent) is taken from the arms of the Burgh of Dundee (Jackson pg 598). Each pot has 3 lilies and 2 handles clearly visible.

A delightful pair of Cape silver Konfyt forks, in the rare Fiddle and Shell pattern. The forks also have a bevelled edge, and are single struck. Fiddle and Shell pattern is scarce (Pickford, Silver Flatware), Cape silver in this pattern is very rare. The hallmarks on both forks are very clear, being makers mark MLS between 2 Fleur de Lys. Smith was a Dane who arrived in the Cape in 1757. He married 4 times, had 10 children, and died in 1806 (Welz, Cape Silver).

A rare matching pair of twisted stem konfyt (preserve) fork and spoon, the fork having 3 prongs. They have spearhead handles, with typical Cape floral engraving, and very clear hallmarks. Similar forks and spoons are illustrated in Heller's History of Cape Silver (Vol 1, pg 148) and Welz's Cape Silver (pg 41). Byleveld worked from 53 Loop Street and 31 Waterkant Street from 1814 - 1827, when he died age 35.

A beautiful silvergilt engine turned snuffbox with a chocolate brown agate (mocha agate) set in a rim of chased flowers, by a silversmith well known for his boxes. This box has a lovely weight and a pleasing feel.

Pleasing associated set of Cape tableforks, 5 by Lawrence Twentyman, one by his contempory John Townsend. Very clear hallmarks, showing the wide variety of hallmarking styles used by the Cape silversmiths. 2 forks have the initial W on the back.

An interesting antique cast silver wine label, pierced for SHERRY, made by the Barnard family of silversmiths. This design is called the "Five Barred Gate", the 5 bars are surrounded by grapes, vines and tendrils. This label is of particular interest as it is upside-down, the central vine leaf is usually on top, here it is underneath. The label is quite balanced so it is not easy to see it is upside-down, so an easy mistake for the engraver who did the piercing and applied the chain to make. The five barred gate design was first produced circa 1820 by Emes & Barnard, it remained popular for 30 years, and was copied by a number of other silversmiths, including Reily & Storer (Wine Labels 1730-2003, page 35, Fig 37, where a Port label is displayed the correct way up, also page 156, F Champagne). A number of other examples, all the correct way up, can be seen on the Steppes Hill website (www.steppeshillfarmantiques.com), all by the Barnards, dating between 1823 and 1830. Another version of this label is depicted...

An unusual pair of Fiddle pattern silver sugar tongs, with crude rounded shell grips. The pair is unusually large and heavy, and has flared and shaped arms, and a strong rounded bow. They are quite plain, with no monograms or decoration, besides the shape and shell grips. They are unusual, very unlike any of the sugartongs depicted in "Georgian Silver Sugar Tongs" by Graham Hodges, leading us to believe they are Colonial or Provincial. The only hallmarks are makers mark TH struck twice (once on each arm), the hallmarks are clear. The T is well cut, but the H is fat and less well defined in the punch. There appears to be a faint device between the letters, but this could be an imperfection in the punch. We have been unable to identify any Colonial makers with initials TH (but suggestions welcome!). However, one possible candidate for the TH makers mark is Theophilus Harvey of Clonmel, Tipperary, Ireland, circa 1810. A fish server by Harvey, with only the TH makers mark in rectangular punch, is pictured in an a...

An interesting early Georgian Irish Hanoverian tablespoon, made by Alexander Richards in Dublin 1764. The spoon has a frontal rib, strong turn-up and a very narrow oval bowl. It is engraved with a Griffin crest on the back of the spoon, showing this spoon was placed on the table bowl down. The spoon is bottom marked, the date letter is very clear, but the makers mark , crowned harp and Hibernia are are worn, but still discernable. Alexander Richards, a noted Irish spoonmaker, worked between 1724 and 1768 (Bennett, Irish Silver, pg 152).

A pair of Cape silver sugar tongs, in the Fiddle pattern, with original engraved initials IB. The hallmarks are very clear, and include makers mark FW and the Cape stub, comprising of 4 pseudo hallmarks (lion passant facing right, date letter A, Georgian duty mark and leopards head town mark). Cape silver sugar tongs are rarely encountered.

A Scottish provincial silver basting (or gravy) spoon in the Fiddle pattern, made by Alexander Cameron in Dundee, with Edinburgh hallmarks for 1824. The spoon is good quality and has a good feel, it is suitable for use as a serving spoon. The hallmarks are excellent, and include the "CAM over ERON" and "DUN over DEE" marks used by Cameron, along with very clear Edinburgh marks. Cameron was apprenticed to Robert Keay of Perth, and worked between 1818 and 1849. Following the re-imposition of duties in Great Britian in 1784, a duty mark had to be struck on silver, which in Scotland could only be done in Edinburgh. This meant that the provincial silversmiths had to submit their silver to Edinburgh - often a long arduous journey, so few did. By the 1820's when this spoon was made, provincial silversmiths such as Cameron submitted a portion of their silver to Edinburgh, to satisfy the authorities.

A rare 18th century Birmingham silver caddy spoon by leading maker Joseph Taylor. The spoon is a naturalistic veined leaf, very finely decorated on the back and the front, the handle a coiled tendril, simply formed from silver wire rolled into a circle, with a tail, flattened to form the connection with the bowl, it works remarkably well. The hallmarks have been individually very carefully struck, as a result all 5 hallmarks are fully intact and clearly visible, which is not often the case with finely decorated silver. They include Birmingham anchor, date letter b for 1799, cusped duty mark, lion passant and makers mark IT for Joseph Taylor. 3 very similar caddy spoons are depicted in the book "Caddy Spoons" by John Norie (a book we highly recommend), figure 59g, by Joseph Taylor dated 1798, and also 2 by Elizabeth Morley (dated 1802 and 1815), figure 22a and c. The same book says "all 18th century Birmingham caddy spoons must be considered comparatively rare and desirable, the facts are that very few were ma...

A beautiful Italian silver salt cellar, made in the Kingdom of Naples (Napoli) or the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, at the end of the French Domination period when the Kingdom had Napoleonic rulers, the French influence can be seen in the design. The cellar has 2 parts, a circular base with intricate pierced skirting, gadrooned rim, and 3 wonderful cast feet with lion heads with rings, and paw feet, the detail is lovely. The feet are supported by curved triangular supporting bars, which contain the hallmarks. The base holds a circular gilded cellar, which can be removed for cleaning, it is held in place with a locking mechanism, 2 bars that fit into slots and then rotate to secure. In addition to the beautiful design, the quality is very pleasing, this would have been an expensive item when new. The condition is also pleasing, just a small dent to the cellar, and another dent to the skirting, salt cellars were well used and often are damaged. The base has 3 hallmarks, makers mark GB under device (all assistan...

A pleasing, heavy caddy spoon by the well known caddy spoon maker Thomas James, whose spoons often have interesting handle shapes, and a "fish-tail" projection at the base of the handle. The spoon has a beautiful crest of a hand holding a cross, with the motto "VIRTUTI FORTUNA COMIS", translated "excellence, fortune and kindness". The hallmarks are very clear. This spoon appears to be an identical twin of a spoon sold by Woolley and Wallis from the John Norie collection, Part 1, April 2004, lot 132. We have now identified the family crest as belonging to the Mayne Family of Scotland, from Tullibody & Powis in Stirling. The crest is described as "Cubit arm, erect, proper habited sable cuff argent holding a cross crosslet gules", the motto above the crest denotes a Scottish family. One possible original owner of this spoon is Colonel William Mayne, who served as Captain of the 1st Life Guards at Waterloo. Thomas James was freed in 1789, but only entered his own mark in 1804.

An interesting pair of Cape silver spoons, one tablespoon and one dessertspoon, both by Lawrence Twentyman and both engraved with an original family crest of winged castle turret below circular cross. These spoons are of hallmarking interest, as even though they have the same pseudo hallmarks, the larger spoon has the normal sized LT makers mark punch, and the smaller spoon has the smaller LT punch. The spoons are Fiddle pattern, and are a 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). 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 and dessertspoons S 11353. Note 2 - With the assistance of a customer, we have now identified the engraved crest as the ...

A set of 6 Prussian silver teaspoons, made in Danzig, now Gdansk, Poland. The spoons are a lovely shape, with long elegant pointed terminals and elongated bowls, more similar to grapefruit or fruit spoons, or lemoen lepels in Dutch. The spoons have bright cut engraving, designed to reflect in candle light, and cartouche for initials. The original owners prick engraved initials G.V. J are very faintly visible. The spoons have 3 hallmarks, most marks are clear, some partially obscured. They include Danzig town mark (2 maltese crosses below crown) in irregular shield, used between 1790 and 1799, makers mark JGS in script, and a large cursive E, we believe this is the assay master mark rather than a date letter, all suggestions welcome. We have identified a Danzig silversmith Johannes Gottlieb Stegmann whose makers mark was JGS, he worked between 1772 and 1804, but his published mark (www.agraart.pl/silver), is different, not the script style as here, so it is possible we have mis-identified the silversmith, all...

Two early Georgian silver Hanoverian tablespoons, engraved with the Davy family crest. The spoons both have a strong front rib and double drop, both features of early Hanoverians. Both are clearly engraved with original armorials for the Davy family of Beckley, Sussex, on the back of the spoons (spoons were displayed bowl down during this period). The crest is described as "sable a fess or between three cinquefoils argent, the lozenge is tied at the top with a lovers knot that denotes the arms of a spinster", see heraldic report which accompanies these spoons. The spoons probably belonged to an unmarried daughter of the Davy family of Beckley, Sussex. The first spoon has clear hallmarks, including WH makers mark for William Hunter, and date letter i for 1744. The second spoon has squashed marks, but the makers mark JL for Jeremiah Lee is clear.

A pair of Georgian Silver Hanoverian Tableforks, dated 1806, with the Douglas family crest, and motto "Jamais Arriere", translated "Never Behind". The crest is beautifully engraved, on the back of the forks in 18th century style, and is described as "on a chapeau, a green salamander surrounded by fire", with the motto above the crest (which is only done in Scotland). The crest is under an Earl's coronet, so these forks probably belonged to the 9th or 10th Earl Hamilton. The hallmarks on both forks are clear, the makers mark is worn but visible.

A rare Irish Provincial teaspoon in the Fiddle pattern, made in Cork by Samuel Green circa 1800, with a very rare Irish retailers mark. The teaspoon is quite long with a narrow bowl, and is hallmarked with incuse makers mark SG for Samuel Green, incuse STERLING guarantee mark, and retailers mark L.O.H in a rectangular punch, which is believed to be for Laurence O'Hagan, a watchmaker and presumably retailer in Limerick. Laurence O'Hagan, Watchmaker appears in the Hibernian Journal in 1791 on his marriage to Miss Quinn and again in 1804 on his marriage to Miss Bryan (source Silver Forums at 925-1000.com, on the Limerick and Irish Retailers marks pages). All the hallmarks are clear, especially the retailer mark, the G from STERLING is only partially struck. Irish provincial silver is quite rare, and often the hallmarks are worn or poorly punched, so this spoon is a nice example. Cork did not have an assay office, so the silversmiths adopted an unofficial STERLING mark to denote the 925 quality standard. This i...

A pair of Fiddle pattern toddy ladles, along with an Old English example, but all made by the same maker in the same year. Given Edinburgh hallmarks, the maker WC could be confused with William Cunningham of Edinburgh, but his makers mark is always in a shaped cartouche. The hallmarks on on all 3 are very clear. Note the switching of the order of the duty mark on the pair.

A Georgian silver tablespoon in the Fiddle pattern, by perhaps the most famous of English goldsmiths, Paul Storr. The spoon is good quality, with a fatter extended drop, and a generous bowl size. The spoon also has an engraved family crest of a birds head above a tower, this has some wear but is still visible. The London hallmarks for 1819 are very clear, the makers mark PS in shaped punch is also clear but has some wear on the S. This is Paul Storr's 9th mark, with no dot between letters, with the punch outline more oval than circular, he registered this mark in 1817 (Paul Storr, 1781-1844, by N. Penzer, page 82). A crescent mark is also clearly visible next to the makers mark, this would have belonged to the journeyman who made the spoon in Storr's workshop. Penzer described Storr as "the last of the great goldsmiths", he worked between 1793 and 1838.