Silver History

British Silver Hallmarks

The British system of Hallmarking and the unbroken continuity of marks over the centuries is unique and a source of great fascination for many people. Much of the charm and interest in British hallmarks lies in their variety and individuality. However the main object of hallmarking was and is to protect the public against fraud. What follows here is a brief overview of hallmarking in England, Scotland, and Ireland. It should be used as a guide only, and we recommend using the Bradbury's Book of Hallmarks (ISBN # 0953174123).

It has always been difficult to determine the purity of silver in an object by visual means and many countries have tried to establish a system of ensuring that certain standards are kept to protect customers who buy silver objects. In Britain our system developed about six hundred years ago, when laws were passed to fix the purity of silver in manufactured articles to be at least 925 parts of silver in every thousand parts. This standard became known as Sterling silver and, in order to be struck with a sterling silver mark, any object had to be sent to, and tested by, the wardens of the goldsmiths guild at the London Assay Office. This system probably represented the first form of consumer protection world wide. Later, in 1478, a further mark known as the date letter was added. This date letter changed each year and has proved to be of enormous value giving an accurate guide to the year in which an item was made. As other assay offices were established in different towns and struck their own identifying marks, it rapidly became possible to look at any piece of British silver and find marks which show standard, town of assay, year of manufacture and maker. This is a unique system and is the main reason, coupled with the excellence of the silversmith, that British silver is held in such high regard.

Silver Standards

The Lion Passant for Sterling silver in England.	The Lion Rampant for Sterling silver in Scotland.	The Crowned Harp for Sterling Silver in Ireland.	Britannia for Britannia silver in England and Scotland.

Sterling Silver

The minimum standard of silver within Britain has always been set at the Sterling standard (92.5 %), and this is represented by the Lion, either passant (English) or rampant (Scottish).

The term "Sterling Silver", emerged in England by the 13th century.

The terms "sterling" and "pound sterling", seem to have acquired their meaning over a period of time, and from several convergent sources. The first mention is that of "sterilensis" in 1078, and by the thirteenth century (by the 1200's) the term sterling had appeared. "sterling" comes from the Old French esterlin and then stiere (strong, firm, immovable) in Old English.

Brittania Silver

Britannia silver is an alloy of silver containing 95.84% silver.

This standard was introduced in England by Act of Parliament in 1697 to replace sterling silver as the obligatory standard for items of silver. The lion passant gardant hallmark denoting sterling was replaced with "the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia", and the leopard's head mark of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths replaced with a "lion's head erased".

Britannia standard silver was introduced by the British government as part of the great recoinage scheme of William III from 1696, when attempts were made to limit the clipping and melting of sterling silver coinage. It was thought that by maintaining a higher standard for silver, there would be less incentive to put the newly issued sterling coins in the melting pot.

Sterling silver was approved again for use by silversmiths from 1 June 1720, and thereafter Britannia silver has remained an optional standard for silver assay in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Since the hallmarking changes of 1 January 1999, Britannia silver has been denoted by the millesimal fineness hallmark 958, with the symbol of Britannia being applied optionally.

Assay Town

Before the advent of mass transport and efficient communications there were many assay offices dotted around Britain to enable silversmiths to hallmark their goods. Even some relatively small towns had offices such as Plymouth, Colchester, Lincoln, Shrewsbury, Preston, Hull, Carlisle, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Perth, Cork, and Limerick. In England the main marks were for London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Chester, Exeter, York, Newcastle and Norwich. The main marks in Scotland were for Edinburgh and Glasgow. For Ireland there is Dublin. This is by no means an exhaustive list and we recommend the book Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks (ISBN # 0907462634) for a more detailed analysis.

As time passed, all of these smaller provincial assay offices closed down. Pieces of silverware with rare town marks are now very collectible and command high prices when they come on the market. Today the only assay offices that are left open for hallmarking are London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Edinburgh, and Dublin. Their marks are shown below.

The Leopards head for London	The Anchor for Birmingham	The Crown for Sheffield	The Castle for Edinburgh	Hibernia for Dublin

Date Letter

The alphabet cycle is used to indicate the date of manufacture. With the letter changing each year you would expect only 26 options, but after each cycle the style of the lettering changed, and also the shield that the letter was surrounded by. The autonomy of each Assay Office and the piecemeal development of the Law over the centuries led to many peculiarities in the marks and in their application, so in 1973 a new Hallmarking Act was passed that tidied up many of the complexities and anomalies and led to a simplified date letter system. From 1975, all the major assay offices, excluding Dublin, used the same date letter cycle starting at the same letter. This made it a lot easier to understand but still retained as much of the interest and tradition as possible. Certain dates were commemorated with special marks such as the present Queens Jubilee in 1977, or King George V's jubilee of 1935. These are again quite collectible and starting to command a slight premium.

Example of an early date letter London 1478	Example of a new date letter London 1984

Maker

Each town or area obviously had a number of registered silversmiths and they all had their individual marks, which they sometimes changed to reflect changes in their business lives. But it was still the assay office that held their mark and there are various books that list makers  marks. We can recommend the book 'London Goldsmiths 1697 to 1837 their Marks & Lives' by Arthur G. Grimwade (ISBN # 0571180655), or 'The Directory of London Gold & Silversmiths 1838 to 1914' by John Culme (ISBN # 0907462464). Certain makers are again very collectible and command very high prices. For example  Paul Storr, Hester Bateman, Christopher Dresser, and Omar Ramsden

Example of an old makers mark	Example of a new makers mark

   
Old Sheffield Plate

Until 1742 only silver items were made in Britain but then a process was invented to fuse sterling silver to copper and the Old Sheffield Plate industry started to develop. For almost one hundred years wonderful objects were crafted, by hand, from sheets of fused plate and almost everything made in silver was made in the new material. There was no legal requirement to mark Old Sheffield pieces so the system of hallmarking described above does not apply. Therefore it is often quite difficult to precisely date Old Sheffield items. Most of the time these pieces are dated based on their style and the way they are made, and this can lead to a fairly accurate circa date within 5 to 10 years either side. The Industrial Revolution, the invention of electricity and general forms of mechanization caused the demise of this industry and saw the growth of electroplating in the 1840's.

Electroplating

In 1840 the electrochemical deposition of silver onto base metals was invented by a company called Elkington of Birmingham, England. This technique was very suitable for use in the new factories being set up to manufacture objects to satisfy demand created by the great wealth of mid Victorian Britain. Early electroplating was on nickel and produced many fine objects, which are now becoming more and more sought after by collectors. Many pieces were struck with pseudo-hallmarks and, to avoid confusion, this was made illegal in 1896 and pieces had to be marked EPNS for 'electroplated nickel silver'. There was no legal requirement to mark electroplated goods so the system of hallmarking described above does not apply. So it is often quite difficult to precisely date an electroplated item. However some makers, such as Elkington & Co., actually marked their pieces with a date letter which is very helpful when deciding on their age. Most of the time electroplated pieces are dated based on their style and the way they are made, and this can lead to a fairly accurate circa date within 5 to 10 years either side.

DECORATIVE STYLES IN BRITISH SILVER

Rococo

The rococo is now generally regarded as one of Frances most original and delightful contributions to the Arts. It is hard to believe the antagonism it provoked in contemporary critics. By the early 1720s the first hint of Rococo could be seen in England. It was a complete change to anything that had gone before and silversmiths adopted the style with great enthusiasm as the decoration was so fantastical compared to the plain elegant style that preceded it. The change was mainly one of emphasis in decoration rather than in form. The swirling movement of water is one of the main elements of the rococo, along with masks, and naturalistic floral displays. The shell was a common motif; its frilly fluted edges and crusty surface texture perfectly suited the aim of Rococo ornamentation.  By the 1760s the style had lost its sculptural quality and the work was in danger of becoming quite crude.

Neoclassical

The waning interest in Rococo meant that this style became very popular in the second half of the 18th century and saw classical decoration based on Ancient Greece and Rome come into fashion. At this time no wealthy young Englishman's education was complete without spending at least a year on a tour of the continent  and the archeological excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 1750s made the ancient world very immediate, also revealing a wealth of domestic styles that greatly  influenced all aspects of contemporary fashion. Swags, urns, wreaths, rams heads, Greek key borders and drop ring handles were in frequent use in silver although often large areas were left unadorned so that the reflective surfaces emphasized the elegance of the shapes and the grace of the proportions. Smiths were quick to realize that the classic fluted stone column made an ideal shaft for a candlestick and despite small variations on the theme this style remains very popular today. Subtle but significant changes in the 1790s meant that the neoclassical style gave way to plainer decoration as the century reached its close.

Regency

Strictly speaking, this style lasted from 1811 to 1820 when the affairs of the country were in the hands of Prince Regent (later George IV ). Not only did he become patron of many silversmiths of the time but also his keen interest in antique styles helped to develop the designs of domestic silverware. The term is often used to include pieces from the late 1790s to 1830s. It describes pieces that are often similar to the earlier Neo-Classical style yet are inclined to be pompous and heavy. The style is often characterised by applied gadroon (rope-twist) borders, with added shells, and floral motifs. Sometimes Egyptian motifs are apparent reflecting the interest at the time of these ancient styles and excessive details.

Victorian

There was more silverware made in the 19th Century than ever before or after, the middle classes had a new found wealth and the British Empire was at its height.  The Industrial revolution was transforming the old craft trades and innovations by plate manufacturers meant great competition for the traditional silversmiths who were still making by hand.  The 18th century passion for antiquarianism continued into the early Victorian era, stimulating a revival of several historic styles that all flourished simultaneously. Naturalism was added to the rococo, gothic, neoclassical etc. styles that were popular and could be seen in abundance at the Great Exhibitions.  Towards the end of the century there came about the Arts and Crafts movement as a reaction against the stylized and mass produced articles now typical  of the period.

Naturalistic

At the beginning of the 1800s experimental work from London influenced the world. The use of nature in neoclassical decoration now lost its symmetry and formality. Natural forms were not only used as decoration but also took over the whole structure. This is a predominant feature especially between 1825-1850 and at the Great Exhibition of 1851  naturalism ran riot through the English Section.  Botanical interest was very high at this time and developments in travel introduced exotic plants and flowers this was also the time when landscape gardens were very popular for pleasure and social functions and this enthusiasm is reflected in the ornamentation of silver.

Gothic

This style can be characterized by a boldness of form and echoes of medieval architecture, such as spires, pointed arches and cast figures.  It enjoyed a limited vogue and was mostly confined to ecclesiastical silver although it was used in moderation on domestic pieces.

Arts & Crafts

The Arts and crafts movement came into being with the founding of the Art Workers Guild in 1884, followed by the Arts and Crafts exhibition society four years later.  It was not only an aesthetic movement but also a social one; expressing the widespread dissatisfaction with the quality of mass produced items.  An admiration for folk art and for the old guilds of medieval craftsmen was also apparent.  Large silver manufacturing companies realized that a precious metal and mass production did not really work well together so they turned to artists and designers for guidance. The principle beliefs of the Arts and Crafts movement was that items should always be what they seemed, no jugs disguised as castle turrets etc, the decoration should enhance the piece not conceal it, silver should never be made to do something out of character.  The hand hammered finish is one of the main characteristics of this style. The smiths encouraged the inequalities of surfaces and as a result the pieces catch the eye in a way the precision and symmetry of machine made objects do not. Its ideas were started by John Ruskin and given expression by William Morris, the movement also influenced workers such as Charles Robert Ashbee.  Ashbee believed that good design and craftsmanship could not come out of mechanical and industrial organizations. This could be said about silversmithing as the use of machinery was by no means essential.  He put his ideas into practice in 1887 when he founded the School and Guild of Handicraft, shapes were kept as simple as possible.  

Aesthetic

Characterised by oriental style engraving and applied decoration. Often incorporating bamboo, birds of paradise, cranes, butterflies, and stylized fan-work. Was at its height during the 1860's through the 1880's, but became over-elaborate and was left  behind by major interest in the cleaner lines of the Arts & Crafts movement.

Art Nouveau

This style was first introduced to England circa 1890, and was a product of the Arts and Crafts movement started by William Morris et al and the pre - Raphaelites.  It was a revolt against the mass produced wares of the Victorian era and was adapted to silverware showing free flowing lines, often asymmetrical, with intertwining floral patterns, insects and female faces depicting a great influence from Japanese Art.  The main characteristic seen in most Art Nouveau pieces is a long line with a quick curve at the end this has been said to be reflective of the social mood of the time. Eventually it was its own extravagance that led to its demise.

Art Deco

A style that became popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s, it was a movement against the naturalistic feel of the Art Nouveau designs.  Art Deco drew together various elements, such as structured floral motifs, stylized curves, geometric shapes and abstract patterns.  These ideas ran simultaneously with the cubist movement in fine Art and similarities of the bold graphic shapes are obvious.

Modernism

In the 1950s there came about a complete change in style. Post-war Britain had a renewed interest in form, with the emphasis on sleek modern shapes.  Form did not necessarily have to follow function, form was the most important factor. The early 1960s saw the Modernist ideal of pure line and form, together with unadorned surfaces challenge the traditional equation of high style.  The admiration for hand made items did not blind the new generation of craftsman against the potentials of mass production, their aim was to balance mechanization and hand finish so that silver was again being put to its best use, as a metal for items of luxury and decoration.