posted 09-10-2000 08:55 AM            

The Guild of Handicraft was one of the most famous producers of Arts & Crafts objects in England. Under the leadership of C.R. Ashbee, who designed most of their wares, the Guild produced some of the most beautiful silver of the period. Unfortunately, the Guild was not a financial success, and it folded in 1908.

That, however, is not the end of the story. George Hart, one of the silversmiths at the guild, adopted the workshops and the maker's mark of the Guild and continued producing silver.

This spoon by George Hart is one of a set of 12 that I purchased last year. The maker's mark is [G of H]. When the Guild was in operation, the mark was [G of H Ltd.]. When Hart took over, the Ltd. was lopped off. Otherwise, the mark is the same.

The similarity of the marks causes a lot of confusion; it even caught me AFTER I knew better. I knew that Hart's mark did not have the Ltd. when I bought this set, but I transposed the fact in my mind so I thought it was actually a Guild piece. What helped was that the dealer misread the hallmarks and dated it to 1910-11. The actual date is 1930-31!

If you read Jackson's Pocket Hallmarks, you are left with the impression that Hart's silver is of little value compared to the pieces with the Guild mark. True, any silver actually produced when the Guild was in operation would be worth considerably more, due to the historical associations with Ashbee. In my opinion, though, Hart's silver is valuable in its own right. Although his designs may not be "pure" A&C, the craftsmanship is wonderful. This set of spoons, although more a historical adaptation than anything else, demonstrate the care of a master silversmith, working by hand in the best traditions of the craft.

Surprisingly, Hart Silversmiths is still in business at the old Guild site in Chipping Camden, England. It is run by George Hart's grandson, and they have a nice web site at www.hartsilversmiths.co.uk. They apparently welcome visitors, and will reproduce the old Ashbee designs from the Guild days. I would love to visit them myself.

posted 09-12-2000 03:33 AM              

Regards,
Julian Hart
julian@hartsilversmiths.co.uk
www.hartsilversmiths.co.uk

posted 04-20-2001 03:43 PM            

------------------
regards
Julian Hart
julian@hartsilversmiths.co.uk www.hartsilversmiths.co.uk

posted 05-11-2006 06:20 PM            

I will locate them and post the titles.

Does anyone know if this is the same man we are discussing?

posted 07-12-2013 08:22 AM            

Note the detail of the pairs of parallel lines with notched edges between them. This was also used by US Arts & Crafts silversmiths such as J. P. Petterson, shown here on a beautiful and somewhat modern-looking ladle:

posted 03-01-2014 12:35 PM            

Here's a Hart / Guild of Handicraft silver mustard pot, with a hinged overhanging lid, a blue glass insert, a solid angular flat-top handle, and matching spoon. Both pieces have an applied bezel-set cabochon garnet detail. It's a beautiful little object, functional and decorative. The surfaces are lightly hammered. The form and proportions are classic:

This type of deep-red cabochon garnet is sometimes called a carbuncle, a biblical term based on its resemblance to a glowing coal ember. The Greek word for it is anthrax. The word garnet comes from the Latin word for pomegranate, since the fruit seeds have a somewhat similar shape and color. Garnets can be red, brown, yellow, orange, and even green.

UK hallmarks today generally include four parts -- a standard mark (the purity or fineness of the metal in ppm), the assay office mark showing where the metal quality was tested (currently either London/leopard's head, Sheffield/Yorkshire rose, Birmingham/anchor, or Edinburgh/castle), the maker's mark (two or more unique letters, now called the sponsor's mark since it can indicate the retailer or importer), and a date letter (compulsory until 1998, and optional thereafter). The date letter for 2014 is a lowercase "p" in a square with the corners clipped. Fineness traditionally was indicated by a symbol such as a lion passant (a lion in profile walking with one paw raised) for sterling, but now purity is represented by the millesimal number (parts per thousand -- sterling is 925) inside a shield with a prescribed shape (oval for silver, hexagon for gold, home plate for platinum). There are printed and online tables and even iPhone apps that decode these.

For hundreds of years marks were struck by punches. Assay offices now offer 2D and 3D laser hallmarks. 2D looks like a flat chased mark while 3D offers a recessed background that resembles a traditional intaglio punch mark. These allow more complex, higher-definition images, and work well on thin surfaces. You can see examples of everything described here at the London Assay office site: Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office - Hallmarking Services

Here's another link to a decoder list of UK marks prepared by the Assay Offices of Great Britain: Hallmarks on Gold, Silver, Platinum - The Assay offices of Great Britain

To complicate things, since 1972 the UK has participated in the International Convention on Hallmarks program that uses an additional "common control" mark in the form of a balance scale in a specifically shaped frame with a fineness number inside.

Makers can also add an optional mark, usually commemorating an event involving a monarch. The most recent of these was for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. One of the most popular recent optional marks was the millennium mark, to celebrate the years 1999 and 2000. Marks commemorating monarchs show the sovereign in profile. The millennium mark was in the form of a cross with the individual numerals 2,0,0, and 0 at the ends of the cross arms. This mark appeared on over 5 million objects.

The stampings on the mustard pot and spoon show the GoH maker's/sponsor's mark, the lion passant for sterling, 925 also for sterling, a leopard's head for the London assay office, a date mark "a" for 2000 (1999 was a capital "Z"), and the special millennial mark: