A fabulous pair of Cape Silver lemoen lepels, (orange spoons), in excellent condition, and with very clear makers mark. The spoons are typical of the Cape lemoen lepels, with pointed terminal and bowl, the bowl itself eye shaped and quite deep. The spoons have typical Cape engraving, with a 4 petal flower and wrigglework along the edges of the handles. They also have a distinctive V joint connecting handle to bowl, the 2 v joints are quite different in angle and style, reflecting their hand-made character. The IC makers mark on both spoons is well struck and clear (Welz mark 32 with canted corners). Welz describes orange spoons as"probably the most attractive type of spoon made at the Cape, derived from Dutch spoons", pg 95. He also notes that all known examples are by Cape born silversmiths of the early 19th century (so not made by the more prolific English immigrants who arrived after 1815). As far as we are aware, only Jan Lotter and Johannes combrink made lemoen lepels, probably between 1800 and 1815.

A fabulous set of six Georgian Silver Old English table spoons by Hester Bateman, the most famous of all English female silversmiths. The spoons are bottom marked, and the hallmarks are slightly squashed but clearly visible. The spoons have a double drop. The spoons are excellent quality and are in extremely good condition, this is a lovely set. The spoons also have a interesting family crest, an armoured fist holding a dagger. Hester Bateman took over her husband's business on his death in 1760, and retired in 1790 when her sons, Peter and Jonathan took over the business.

A fabulous set of 6 Scottish Provincial dessert spoons in the Fiddle pattern, made by William Ferguson of Elgin, and hallmarked in Edinburgh over 3 different years between 1839 and 1841. The spoons are all engraved with original owners initial W, so clearly a set. The spoons are in excellent condition, with strong tips to the spoon bowls, with no sign of wear or use at all - no dents or scratches, these spoons must have sat in a drawer and not been used. Close examination of the 6 spoons reveals small differences in the size and shape of the bowls, shape of the Fiddle and the shape of the drop, which indicates these spoons were all made by hand. Furthermore, the spoons vary slightly in weight, the lightest is 33 grammes, the heaviest 39 grammes, they average 37 grammes, so a significant variation. The hallmarks on all 6 spoons are also very clear and well struck, they could not be better. They include makers mark WF and ELGIN, alongside Edinburgh hallmarks, 1 is for 1839, 3 for 1840 and 2 for 1841. 2 of the s...

A magnificent pair of Victorian silver gilt spoons, with a beautiful figure of a maiden (or Goddess), sculpted with lovely detail. She is full figure, with a long flowing dress with a high slit, with flowers adorning the front. She holds her arms crossed, and has her hair in a bun. The design has a strong Art Nouveau look and feel, these spoons were well ahead of their time when made in 1873. The spoons are very good quality and gauge, very suitable for use as serving spoons for a dessert. The hallmarks are very clear on both spoons. Henry William Curry took over the business of Augustus Piesse in 1868, which he continued until 1889. Of interest is that Curry was in trouble with the Goldsmiths Hall in 1880 in a matter of counterfeiting hallmarks (John Culme, Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, pg 366). Curry has left behind some fabulous silver, top notch quality and beautiful intricate designs, he deserves further study. Henry William Curry's brother Charles John Curry was in partnership with Alexander Crich...

A unique collection of 12 early Georgian Hanoverian tablespoons, 8 being George II and four being George III. Sets of flatware from this period are extremely rare, most spoons were made singly or in pairs. All the spoons have clear hallmarks, with visible date letters and makers marks (all but 2 have the makers identified). Five of the spoons are shellbacks, two are scrollbacks, the remaining 5 have double drops. Nine spoons have contempory initials and two have later initials. One spoon has an additional later hallmark JP (John Page, 1900), indicating it may have been repaired at this stage. Identified makers include Thomas Pye, Richard Gosling, Marmaduke Daintry and Robert Sallam.

A set of 8 Fiddle pattern Russian silver teaspoons, with engraved contempory initial W, by the famous maker Sazikov. The spoons are of exceptional quality, and are in excellent condition, with perfectly preserved tips, and no scratches or dents at all. Sazikov was founded in 1793 by Pavel Sazikov, they received the Imperial warrant in 1846, meaning they were one of a few select firms chosen to supply the Russian Imperial family. All 8 teaspoons carry the Imperial Warrant double headed eagle hallmark, which is well struck. Sazikov produced very high quality silver until the Russian revolution of 1917, the firm being run first by Pavel's son Ignaty, later by Ignaty's sons Pavel and Sergei (Watts, Russian Silversmiths Hallmarks, pg 27). The hallmarks are very clear, and in addition to the Imperial eagle include Sazikov makers mark in Cyrillic, assay masters mark B.C. for Victor Savinkov, date letter 1862, standard mark 84 (zolotniks) and city mark for Moscow (St George killing dragon).

A set of 13 sterling silver Apostle spoons, as follows: The Master, St. Peter, St. John, St. Matthew, St. Andrew, St. Philip, St. Jude, St. James the Greater, St. James the Less, St. Matthias, St. Simon, St. Thomas, and St. Bartholomew. The Apostles are well modeled, with lovely detail, as can be seen from the photographs. For example, St. Peter has keys, St. Simon a saw, St Andrew a cross, St. Jude an axe, and St. James a staff and bible. The spoons are from a set (no 97), issued by The Heritage Collection in 1978, limited to 1000 sets. The hallmarks are clear, and include maker mark CM (Cape Mint, part of the Pagliari Group), STG for Sterling silver, antelope head for South Africa, and date letter E for 1978. All the spoons have the Apostle's name engraved on the stem, and the set number 97. They come complete with original signed certificate. The original solid wooden box is also available, this is large and heavy (1.5 kilograms), so will require extra postage if required. Note - We now have another set a...

A rare Cape silver Basting (or serving) spoon, by the Cape's "Greatest Silversmith" Daniel Heinrich Schmidt, as described by Heller in History of Cape Silver. The spoon is Hanoverian in style, with a very pronounced "turn up" end, almost 90 degrees to the spoon handle, a strong pip and a rib on the front of the handle. The spoon also has a double drop, and the stem changes from rounded to flattened. The spoon is a very good guage, with solid bowl and strong tip, very suitable for use. The hallmarks include makers mark HNS (mark 174 and 175 in Welz, Cape Silver) and a bunch of grapes. This was described as an unknown maker by Welz, but it is now accepted that this is the mark of Daniel Schmidt, with some wear and damage to the punch so the D looks more like an H (see Welz marks 108 and 109). The presence of the bunch of grapes, identical to that used by Schmidt, confirms this. The only other Cape silversmith to use a bunch of grapes was Jan Lotter, his bunch is quite distinctly different. Further confirmation ...

A rare Victorian silver Old English Military Thread and Shell pattern soup ladle, of exceptional weight and quality. The pattern has the regular Thread and Shell pattern, double struck (on both sides), but with scrolls instead of shoulders, as with all Military variants (Pickford, Silver Flatware, page 117). The ladle has an interesting engraved family crest, a collared lion between 2 horns. The hallmarks are very clear, including makers mark GA (George Adams, who took over the Chawner business in 1840), and also includes 2 journeyman's marks S and N (the silversmiths who made the ladle in the Chawner & Co workshop). Ian Pickford, in the book Silver Flatware, describes Old English Military Thread and Shell as "a rare pattern, illustrated in the Chawner & Co. Pattern book(appendix pg 218). Any services and pieces are rare" - page 107. Chawner & Co were the most important firm of silver spoon manufacturers in Victorian England (John Culme, Directory of Gold & Silversmiths, page 82).

A rare Scottish provincial soup ladle, made by John Heron in Greenock. The ladle is the attractive Celtic Pointed pattern (Old English pointed, Pickford, Silver Flatware, pg 96), which was only made in Scotland and Ireland. The ladle has original engraved initial E, in traditional Scottish style. This is a large, substantial and heavy ladle, with a generous circular bowl, a pleasure to use. The hallmarks are excellent, very clear, just a portion on the right of the sailing ship not visible, it was not well struck on that side. The hallmarks include makers mark JH, anchor, 3 masted sailing ship complete with sails, rigging and flying pennants, initial C and oak tree (Turner, Directory of Scottish Provincial Silversmiths, pg 68, and Jackson pg 605. The anchor and sailing ship relate to Greenock's history as an important port and shipbuilding centre, the oak tree refers to the town's original name (Green Oak).

A set of 6 Scottish Provincial Oar pattern teaspoons made in Banff circa 1820, 4 by John McQueen and 2 by William Simpson I. The Oar pattern is also called Fiddle without Shoulders (Pickford Silver Flatware page 111), it is a scarce variant only found in Scotland. All 6 teaspoons are engraved with original owners initials JJR, but close inspection of the engraving shows the 2 spoons by Simpson were engraved by a different hand, we presume this was done later to complete a set of Banff teaspoons. You can also see slight differences in the shape of the bowl and Fiddle in the 2 Simpson spoons when compared to the Mcqueen spoons, showing they were all made by hand. The hallmarks on all 6 spoons are good, the 4 McQueen spoons have the stub mark of McQueen - B, A, Scottish Thistle, McQ - mark BF35 in the Directory of Scottish Provincial Silversmiths by Richard Turner, a book we highly recommend. 2 spoons have wear to the B, and one spoon has wear to the McQ, probably a result of uneven punching. The 2 Simpson spoon...

A Cape silver soup ladle in the Fiddle pattern, it is quite large and of good weight, with a substantial bowl size, definitely larger than usual. In addition to it's large bowl, the handle is wider than usual, and the drop is large and rounded, more European in style than English. Overall it has a very appealing Colonial charm, quite different from English examples of the period, so probably from early in Twentyman's career, before his flatware more closely resembled English examples. The ladle has an original engraved owners crest, a running stag, the engraving also Colonial in style, the body of the stag a little too long, the engraving still crisp and clear, we really like it. The crest can be described as "Argent, a stag trippant attired and unguled", this is the South African crest of the McCarthy family (Pama, Heraldry of South African Families, page 205). The hallmarks are very clear, makers mark LT for Lawrence Twentyman, and pseudo English hallmarks (duty mark, castle town mark, and date letter C) -...

A set of 6 Old English pattern Cape silver tablespoons, made by Johannes Combrink. All 6 spoons have engraved owners initials G, we assume the original owner. This set has been made by hand, there are slight differences in length, also differences in the shape of the handle, with some having narrower ends. One spoon also has a noticeably larger bowl than the other 5, so perhaps made at a different time. The drop on 2 spoons is also slightly longer, overall interesting but subtle differences between the spoons. The hallmarks also exhibit differences, three spoons are struck with makers mark IC three times, the other three are struck with makers mark IC four times (similar to the English duty dodgers). The orientation of the marks also differs, some are struck vertically and some sideways, so it appears the silversmith struck marks quite randomly. This mark is 29 or mark 30 in the book Cape Silver by Welz, the C is quite close the the I, and has short arms, almost looks like a K. The slightly larger spoon, whic...

A fabulous set of 12 Victorian sterling silver teaspoons with matching sugar tongs, each of the 13 items has the UK Patent Office Lozenge Diamond registration mark, showing this design was patented. The pattern is a bright cut shell pattern, and is double struck (on both sides), this is a beautiful pattern that will glitter in candlelight. The quality is superb, the spoons around 25 grammes each. The set is perfectly preserved in it's original box, they do not appear to have been used. There is no engraving, these spoons are as pristine as the day they were made. All 13 items are clearly hallmarked with Sheffield Crown, Sterling Lion, date letter Gothic F and makers mark RM/EH in diamond punch, for Richard Martin and Ebenezer Hall, they used this mark between 1881 and 1911 (the firm was established in 1863). In addition, all 13 items have a clear diamond or lozenge registration mark for the British Patent office, this was used between 1842 and 1883, this is the second version of the mark used between 1868 and...

A Scottish Provincial Fiddle pattern soup ladle, with exceptionally clear and distinct hallmarks, deeply struck with no wear - these hallmarks are rare. The ladle is a good gauge, very solid, and fit for use, and is engraved with the initial I in contempory style. The bowl has a good shape, with raised edges, a feature of earlier ladles. The hallmarks are makers mark CF, ELGIN, cathedral wall and St Giles. The cathedral hallmark represents the west front of Elgin Cathedral Church (Jackson, pg 601), St Giles is its patron saint. The detail of the hallmarks is very good, with windows, door, double roof and battlements visible in the cathedral, and cloak, nimbus, staff and book visible in St Giles. Charles Fowler worked from 1809-1824, most of his silver is marked ELN (as opposed to ELGIN in full), the combination with the cathedral wall and St Giles is scarce.

A fabulous Arts & Crafts silver child's spoon, with a hedgehog finial, made by Francis Cooper, son of the famous John Paul Cooper, who was one of the leaders of the Arts and Crafts movement. Silver by Francis Cooper is quite rare, and is seldom seen (see www.antiquesilverspoons.co.uk for a beautiful tea strainer by Francis Cooper). The spoon has a well modeled hedgehog finial, mounted on a disc with 6 supports, one support is part of the spoon stem detail. The bowl is hand hammered at the back but smooth in front, with the drop and rat-tail part of the bowl. The spoon is exceptionally well made, and given it's superb gauge is a delight to hold (if you have small hands!). The hallmarks are very clear, and include gothic script FC makers mark and the Queens head Silver Jubilee mark for 1977. Francis Cooper (1906-1980, so this spoon was one of the last he produced) worked for his father as a metalworker from 1924 until his death in 1933. John Paul Cooper was an architect turned metalworker, who headed up metal...

A mixed set of 6 Cape silver dessert spoons, all in the Fiddle pattern. 2 spoons have original owners engraved initials (HR and WFS), one has the very faint remains of a family crest and engraved initial B, and 3 have no initials or crests. All 6 spoons have very clear Cape silver hallmarks, with no wear, showing quite a lot of different pseudo hallmarks used by Cape silversmiths, so an interesting collection. The first spoon is by Peter Clarke Daniel (PD, pseudo duty, pseudo date letter B, mark 42 in Welz), Daniel was born in Dublin but arrived in South Africa with the 1820 settlers as a child. The second is by John Townsend (JT, pseudo duty mark, date letter a, lion passant and duty mark, mark 123 in Welz). The next 2 are by William Moore (WM, Cape stub mark, Welz mark 100, one spoon also has an incuse D mark, either a journeyman or owners mark). The last 2 are by Lawrence Twentyman but with different hallmarks and made at different times (the Fiddle pattern noticeably different on these 2 spoons). The firs...

A rare set of 3 Scottish provincial toddy ladles (Fiddle pattern) made by James Pirie of Aberdeen. All 3 ladles have an interesting crest, a dexter hand holding a kings crown, which is well engraved. This is the crest of the Cheeseman family, it is also used by the Robertson family. The hallmarks JP, ABD, JP are very clear on all 3 ladles. The makers mark JP is quite rare, in fact it is not depicted in Jackson's, although it is recorded in Turner's Scottish provincial silversmiths.

A rare Cape silver basting spoon with exceptionally clear hallmarks, they could not be better. The spoon is Old English pattern, but more European than English in style, with a deep bowl and strong tip, it also has a double drop, and no engraving is present with no signs of removal, we think this spoon was never engraved. The spoon is hallmarked with a flower in oval punch, flanked by 2 makers mark IL, with an indent in the top of the punch, this is makers mark 74 in the book Cape Silver by Stephan Welz. Jan Lotter, who was regarded by Heller as "a highly skilled craftsman", only worked for 4 years between 1813 and 1817, so he probably died young. He made most of the prized Cape silver "lemoenlepels" (orange spoons) known to exist today. He worked from 22 Keerom Street.

A rare and interesting pair of Irish Georgian silver Bright Cut tablespoons, engraved "Wicklow Reg", for the 37th Wicklow Regiment, part of the Irish Militia. The spoons are Old English in shape, with the traditional "Dublin Star" engraved at the top above the oval cartouche with the regimental engraving, and traditional bright cut engraving. One spoon is in very good condition, the second has small dents to the bowl, overall quite pleasing for Regimental silver spoons which often are in poor condition. One spoon has excellent hallmarks, the second spoon has clear makers mark but worn Irish marks, still visible (spoon with good hallmarks has the dents to bowl). John Shiels (or Sheils) had a long career between 1762 and 1790, given these spoons are 1797 it is possible a son took over his punches. 38 Regiments of Irish Militia were established in 1793 (one from each county) after the outbreak of war with France, to free regular soldiers up and to control the Irish rebellion. The 37th Wicklow Regiment first saw ...