posted 07-10-1999 02:19 AM            

Special Features
The process of making hand hammered die stamped silver places some limitations upon the intricacy of the design. The Kings pattern is about as ornate as one could find in the early 19th century. It has been such a lasting pattern that it has produced in some form by virtually every major American manufacturer and is still being produced today by Tiffany in English King . The pieces below date between 1833 and 1844 from London, but because of the lasting quality of hand wrought silver, the tines are perfect and the general appearance is almost as new.

A time saving process for manufacturing silver flatware, very similar indeed to modern production, was introduced in England as early as 1785. A complete comparison of the processes is in Pickford (1). When a spoon or fork is stamped on a machine there are no repeated hammerings and annealings to harden the metal. The piece is also of uniform thickness while the hand made piece can be made thicker at critical places of wear such as the front edge of a spoon. Thus the hand made piece will be much more durable. A 200 year old hand made service will often be found in better condition than a 50 year old one made by machine. The machine made process did not gain much acceptance until about 1840 in Sheffield while London continued as the center for hand made. Therefore a pre 1850 London piece such as this group is almost surely hand wrought.

At 4 oz the dinner fork is a joy to hold and behold. The elements of this setting cost us between $40 and $100 each commensurate with todays better production line silver. . Current hand hammered silver of this quality sells new for $1000-$1500 per place setting (ONC, Bucellatti). Thus the collector is paying no premium for a beautiful 150 year old antique of the highest quality. Note that the pieces of the place setting are virtually the same as 100 years earlier, the teaspoon has just gotten larger.

Dating and identification
The dating of English Silver is a joy to collectors and is documented in several references including Wyler (6).


Going from top to bottom we begin with makers mark JS over AS. To precisely identify the maker it will be necessary to know the period made. Next is the Lion passant which has been the symbol for British Sterling since about 1720. Second down is the Leopard's head symbolizing London. Other symbols might indicate Exeter, Sheffield, York, Norwich or Newcastle. Some collect by town. The gothic looking letter is next which , in concert with the young Queens head , will define the date within two years. While one might not guess this from scratch in a small image, comparison with the book will show is as an "H" which gives us 1843-44. In this period a JS/AS would mean Joseph and Alber Savory is the maker. What more would we want to know about a 150 year old collectible?

Pieces Available (left to right)
item..............Length...............Our Cost
Teaspoon...........5 5/8"................$37.50
Dessert Spoon ...7".....................$55.00
Tablespoon.......8 1/2"...................$65.00
Dinner Fork......8 1/4"..................$56.00
Dessert Fork.....6 1/2"...................$40.00
Knife..............9 3/4"...................$100.00

Note that in Victorian English there is no knife of the pattern and one would buy these to taste. My favorite style is pistol grip. The "V R" on the blade indicates Victoria Regina which places the knife in the proper period.

That's all there is. One should note that in this period the handles of the spoons are turned down while the handles of the forks are turned up. This allows the bowls of the spoons to be placed on the table pointed up while the tips of the forks are pointed down. In the 18th century all handles were tipped up.

Photo:

Key Pieces
All pieces are readily available. A good period knife is probably the most difficult.

Comments
You can see slight pattern differences from maker to maker. A purist might try for a closer match If I sound partial toward English, I am. You can't beat it for age, quality and precise identifiability and all at a bargain price. An ideal collectible.