A magnificent 950 grade French silver gravy or sauce ladle in the Renaissance pattern, that carries the marks of 2 of France's greatest silversmiths - Christofle and Cardeilhac. The ladle has a pierced tri-lobe finial, with a smiling cherub's head in the centre, surrounded by very ornate scrolls. the centre of the stem is decorated with a reverse baluster design, and the stem is rectangular, with 90 degree angles. The oval double lipped bowl is connected to the stem with an ornate rat-tail, and the base of the bowl has a channel to allow for easy pouring. The bowl also has a guard over the channel to assist pouring and prevent splashing. Needless to say, the quality and feel of this ladle is fabulous, and it is made of the higher grade 950 silver (as opposed to Sterling which is 925). The Renaissance pattern honours the Renaissance period, and has been described as one of Christofle's most prestigious models, it is entirely hand made in the Haute Orfevrerie workshops in Paris - which produces Christofle's fi...

A rare American coin silver sugartongs, made in New York in 1808-1809 by 2 members of the Forbes family of silversmiths. The tongs are quite different from the traditional shape, with a Fiddle shape on the arms, and oval bowls, they are also larger than usual. The tongs are engraved with original owners initials LI in script (could also be IJ if reversed). Both arms are hallmarked with maker mark "C & IW FORBES", with wear to the C, but still clearly visible on one, worn on the other. Colin Van Gelder Forbes and John Wolfe Forbes were brothers, sons of silversmith William Garrett Forbes and brothers to silversmith Garret Forbes. Colin and John were only in partnership between 1808 and 1809, so this is a rare makers mark (Colin worked between 1798 and 1839, John between 1802 and 1835). The Forbes family "dominated the silversmith craft in New York in the late 18th and early 19th century, with shops at 88 and 169 Broadway" - source Silversmith Forbes on www.genealogy.com. This particular makers mark is not dep...

A set of 3 Irish Provincial silver dessert forks in the Fiddle pattern, made by Richard Garde of Cork in 1835. The forks are all engraved with a family crest of a Griffin, above engraved owners initials (possibly GT in script), the engraving is on the back of the forks, showing they were placed facing down on the table during those times. The forks are all clearly hallmarked, makers mark R.G, mark 86, page 191, Collecting Irish Silver by Douglas Bennett (a book we highly recommend). The crowned harp, Hibernia and date letter P are all clear, one duty mark is clear and 2 duty marks are worn but still visible. The Dublin Goldsmiths company passed an act in 1807 requiring the Kings head to be stamped on all plate made in Ireland. As this could only be done in Dublin, it forced the provincial goldsmiths to start sending silver to Dublin for hallmarking. Garde, who worked in Cork between 1824 and 1845, was presumably the son of silversmith Phineas Garde, who complied intermittently with the Dublin act. The Act sha...

A rare Cape silver marrow scoop, with 4 pseudo hallmarks and an unusual shaped stem. The marrow scoop is the usual shape, with a thinner and thicker scoop at either end, the stem has an unusual shape, slightly thicker in the centre, possibly to improve the grip. The scoop has 4 pseudo hallmarks, these are well struck but blurry, probably due to inferior or worn punches being used. They include pseudo date letter Gothic a, pseudo crowned leopards head town mark, pseudo duty mark with noticeable cusp to the right, and pseudo date letter B, also with cusps. No makers mark is present, and we have not seen this particular combination of marks together before. However, the only Cape silversmith who used these particular pseudo marks is Lawrence Twentyman, see Welz, Cape Silver & Silversmiths, page 155, marks 134 (capital B) and 135 (crowned leopards head, a and duty mark). In addition, a very similarly shaped Cape silver marrow scoop is depicted by Welz in the same book, page 77, centre, this example by Lawrence Tw...

A Cape silver Fiddle pattern dessert fork, with contemporary engraved initial M. The fork has excellent hallmarks, makers mark WM and the Cape Stub mark (see our articles section) consisting of 4 English pseudo hallmarks, Lion passant, date letter capital A, Georgian kings head duty mark and leopards head (town mark for London). The fork is very good quality and weight, and is suitable for use. The tines are very long, longer than usual, this fork has probably not been used. What is interesting about this Cape stub mark is that the punch is showing signs of wear, particularly the Leopards head. This lead to a mistake in Morrison (The Silversmiths and Goldsmiths of the Cape of Good Hope, 1936, pg 59), and later Heller (History of Cape Silver), where the hallmark is mistakenly drawn as an anchor (MM63 in Heller, pg 154).

A beautiful set of 6 teaspoons and matching sugar tongs in the Rose pattern, which is a rare pattern that is not often seen. The pattern has trailing roses, the detail is lovely. The spoons are single struck (pattern is only on the front), and the spoons are bottom marked (hallmarks near the spoon bowls). All 7 items are clearly hallmarked, 3 are 1901 and have makers mark TS/WS/HH (Hollard, Aldwinckle & Slater, this mark used 1894-1901) 4 are 1903 with HA&S mark (also Hollard, Aldwinckle & Slater, this mark used 1902-1906), we are not sure what caused the date gap but the spoons are identical, by the same maker. so must have been kept in stock. The 4 1903 spoons have an additional P hallmark, perhaps the journeyman who made the spoons. Hollard. Aldwinckle & Slater were an important firm, they worked between 1838 and 1922, they took over the leading firm of G.W. Adams (the old Chawner & Co.) in 1883, which included all the spoon dies - hence there production of Rose pattern. Ian Pickford, in his book Silver Fl...

A 24 piece set of Georg Jensen sterling silver Cypress pattern flatware, consisting of 6 dinner knives, 6 dinner forks, 6 dinner spoons and 6 soup spoons. This set has a lovely elegant design, we particularly love the soup spoons. The spoons and forks are all sterling silver, the knives have stainless steel blades, also engraved "GEORG JENSEN DENMARK", and the usual hollow silver handles, the knives are serrated on one side and have an indent at the top of the blade. This is a vintage set dating from 1960, all 24 pieces are fully hallmarked. The hallmarks include "GEORG JENSEN" in oval dots, above "STERLING DENMARK". All 24 pieces also carry London import marks, sponsors mark G.JLd for Georg Jensen (their London branch), oval U import mark, .925 sterling mark and date letters e and f for 1960 and 1961. The Cypress (or Cypres) pattern is #99 in the Jensen catalog, it was designed by Tias Eckhoff in 1954. The Cypress pattern won the design competition held for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Georg J...