Leopard Antiques Cape Silver Knife

Cape Silver Knife - Extremely Rare

Reference: S1410 Period: Victorian Year: Circa 1850 Silversmith: Johannes Martinus Lotter Place: Cape Price: $ 720.00 Weight: 62 grams Dimensions: 20.7 cm Condition: Excellent. Scratches to blade. Handle and blade very securely fastened. Tiny chip to ivory at handle end (< 2 mm). Description: An extremely rare Cape silver knife, with ivory handle and engraved on the blade "EHM from HOM". The hallmarks are extremely clear, pseudo - English duty mark and castle, with makers mark JML (mark 82 in Welz, Cape Silver). These are accompanied by another mark, some sort of device, unrecorded in Welz. The knife is very well made, good quality and a pleasing weight. The ivory handle shows good texture and a changing colour from dark to light. The knife is extremely rare, being the only known example recorded to date. The leading authority on Cape Silver Stephan Welz said "I have been unable to trace any Cape silver knives" (Cape Silver pg 73), and David Heller said "the only type of silver knife in use at the Cape seems to have been the butter knife (History of Cape Silver, pg 202). Johannes Lotter was part of the highly regarded Lotter family of Cape silversmiths, being the son of Willem and the brother of Carel.

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