A set of fabulous quality antique silver teaspoons, in the Fiddle and Thread pattern, made by the leading silversmiths of the Victorian era. The teaspoons are quite large and a very pleasing weight, over 30 grammes each, they have engraved initials AMI. The hallmarks are excellent on all 6 teaspoons.

A sterling silver and white enamel Guildhall School of Music & Drama medallion, perfectly preserved in it's original box. The medallion is good quality, a pleasing weight, with music scrolls, mask and City of London crest. The medallion reads "DIPLOMA L.G.S.M.", for Licentiate of the Guildhall of the School of Music. The back is engraved "Albert Edward Honey Teachers' Flute", surrounded by laurel wreath. Albert Honey was born in Devon in 1919, he was principal flute for the Band of Royal Dragoons during the war. He then joined the Scottish National Orchestra from 1951-1954 and BBC Review Orchestra 1954-1964. He then emigrated to South Africa to teach at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, he retired in 1984 after being awarded M.Mus and Ph.D. He palayed in the National Symphony Orchestra after retirement and died in 2001. The hallmarks are clear.

A fabulous cast silver vine leaf wine label, pierced for Sherry, made by Benjamin Smith II for Rundell & Bridge. The label is single leaf, symmetrical in design, with textured finish, with a vine branch for attachment to the chain. The label is large and heavy, at 41 grammes one of the heaviest we have encountered. Most vine leaf labels are stamped from dies, and as such are much lighter. The book "Wine Labels 1730 -2003" notes that "Philip Rundell and Benjamin Smith III produced elegant cast symmetrical leaf labels" (page 90), and they depict a similar label, for Burgundy (fig 342, page 91), but with different vine stem design. The hallmarks are clear for 1832, no town mark is present. The makers mark BS in rectangular shield is clearly visible, but slightly obscured by the underlying texture of the leaf. This is mark 230 in Grimwade "London Goldsmiths" for Benjamin Smith II, different in shape and style from the marks used by Benjamin Smith III, his son, so at odds with quote from Wine Labels above. Benjami...

An interesting solid gold bar brooch, with a natural gold nugget, set with a round brilliant diamond. The nugget is a beautiful shape and size, approximately 5 grams, with tiny quartz crystals confirming it is natural. The diamond is approximately .20 carats, 0.4 mm diameter, is a round brilliant cut, colour G/H and clarity VS. The bar brooch itself is 15 carat gold, it is hallmarked 15C, and has makers mark CM. This brooch is accompanied by a valuation certificate from The Gem Lab Gemmological Services, confirming replacement value of R 20800, and confirming the diamond and gold details above.

A delightful sterling silver Christening bowl or porringer, decorated with the "Three Bears" of Goldilocks fame walking past engraved trees. The bowl is good quality, quite heavy, the bears are cast and applied, the detail is lovely. The bowl is engraved "Mappin & Webb Ltd, London & Sheffield", and all the hallmarks are excellent. Mappin and Webb was founded in 1859, it still exists today and is one of Britain's most prestigious brands. In addition to Royal Warrants, Mappin and Webb are the Crown Jeweller. The was produced just after the end of World War II, silver was very cheap, items from this period are often heavy and superb quality. One of the nicest Christening present a baby could hope to receive. Note - we have 2 matching items, a plate and mug, S 1981 and S1982.

A 15 carat gold and enamel RAF (Royal Air Force) sweetheart brooch, with red and green enamel, perfectly preserved in it's original leather and silk box. The only hallmark present is 15CT for fifteen carat gold. The box is lovely, and reads "Royal Appointment, Gieves Ltd, 21 Old Bond St London W1". Gieves is now Gieves and Hawkes after the acquisition of Hawkes in 1974, they hold Royal Warrants for the Royal Family and the Prince of Wales, now at 1 Savile Row.

A beautiful pair of miniature antique silver pastry servers, perfectly preserved in their original box. The servers are in the Kings Husk pattern, single struck, this is a variant of the Kings pattern without the central honeysuckle decoration, and a husk shell. Both servers are a similar size and shape, one had a flat spade shape blade and the other has a serrated prong front, so quite versatile. The hallmarks on both are very clear. The box reads "By Appointment to his Excellency The Governor of Cape Colony, Morris Bros, Jewellers & Silversmiths, Kimberley & Johannesburg". We have not been able to trace any information about Morris Brothers, all assistance welcome. Note - We have now traced a 1905 advert for John Round & Son, they claim to be "The largest spoon and fork makers in the world".

A rare pair of Tudor pattern sauce ladles, made by Chawner & Co, the leading flatware maker of Victorian England. The ladles are fabulous quality, and in excellent condition, they could not be better. The Tudor pattern is a Gothic Revival pattern, it has 2 small scroll circular projections on each side of the stem, this differentiates it from the "Straight Tudor" pattern. Both ladles are clearly hallmarked, they also carry the British Registry design number and date chart diamond, which rarely occurs on silver flatware - class I for metal, date letter v for 1850, and R 14 indicating 14 August. The presence of the design mark indicates the Chawner protected the design to protect it being copied. Tudor is described by Pickford (Silver Flatware page 150) as "a rare Chawner & Co pattern registered August 14th 1850, along with Straight Tudor, it appears in the Chawner Pattern book (page 218). Odd pieces may on rare occasions, be found, but building a service would be extremely difficult". The Tudor pattern is sh...

A set of Art Deco sterling silver demitasse or coffee spoons, perfectly preserved in original box. The spoons have a horseshoe shaped bowl, and long elegant tapered handles. All 6 spoons have clear hallmarks. The box reads "L Pinn & Co, Jewellers, 43-45 Adderley Street, Cape Town. Lazerus Pinn was a Lithuanian emigrant who arrived in Cape Town in the 1880's, he opened the jewellery store in 1893, it has remained in the family and still trades today under the leadership of Jeremy Pinn.

A Liberty & Co Arts and Crafts sterling silver sugar bowl, with a planished (hand hammered) squat circular body. The jug is decorated with embossed celtic style buttons (8) and matching border, with a little heart shaped design. The bowl sits on 4 button feet, and has plain handles. The bowl is clearly hallmarked with Liberty's distinctive L&Co in diamond shaped punch mark, along with Birmingham hallmarks for 1928. The bowl also has a design number, 50014, perhaps some-one with access to the Liberty archives will be able to do further research. Arthur Liberty used his shop to showcase the work of leading designers, including Archibald Knox, Rex Silver, Bernard Cuzner and Jessie King (Liberty's, Biography of a Shop, A Adburgham, 1975, pg 81). It is possible this bowl was designed by one of these designers. The Liberty store founded in 1875, and still thrives today. Their current Tudor Revival building on Great Marlborough Street was completed in 1924, using the timbers of 2 warships. Note- we have a matching ...

A set of six Art Deco sterling silver grapefruit spoons, in perfect condition. The spoons have fluted bowls, with strong tips for digging into grapefruit, the bowls are also gilded. The finials are pierced, the design looks like a stylised Fleur-De-Lys, reminds us of a Gothic arch. All 6 spoons have clear hallmarks.

A private die silver serving or basting spoon featuring a King Protea, South Africa's national flower. The pattern is single struck, and contains a well modelled King Protea on the end of the spoon, the stem is decorated with a triple ribbed pattern with bands, ending in a diamond shape at the spoon bowl. We imagine this is a rare pattern, probably a special commission for a South African event or for a family with South African ties (all suggestions welcome). The hallmarks are clear, and include makers mark R.C for William Comyns & Sons, a firm that dates back to 1856, and still exists today. They are an important firm, their archive contains over 30 thousand patterns (in the V&A), they made all the coronets for the Queen's coronation. The spoon also has an additional hallmark in a very strange place, at the back of the spoon where the stem joins the bowl, this mark is circular and contains 3 C's in a pattern, we have now established this back to back C's hallmark is a trademark used exclusively by William C...

A very interesting (and large) Odd Fellows antique silver medallion or pendant, with a central Brittannia surrounded by a laurel wreath, in silver, on blue (enamel?) background, covered by glass. The oval medallion is engraved "VOTED BY THE YARMOUTH BRITANNIC LODGE OF ODD FELLOWS TO G. BOATWRIGHT P.G. 29 MARCH 1843". This is surrounded by an attractive engraved chain, the border is also engraved. The hallmarks are clear, and include the distinctive J.D makers mark with indented corners (Grimwade 3421). Dallinger was an engraver, lithographer and copper plate maker, he first worked in Ipswitch from 1824 and moved to Norwich in 1829 when he made this medallion. He is known as a maker of Odd Fellow regalia. The Odd Fellows is a Fraternal Society promoting philanthropy and charity, it dates back to 1745 and still exists today.

A set of 6 matching sterling silver golf teaspoons, with embossed crossed golf clubs and ball at the top of each spoon, with reeded border. The spoons are a good quality and weight. Hallmarks are clear on all 6 teaspoons. Walker and Hall were a large and successful firm, they worked between 1882 and 1960.

A delightful sterling silver Christening mug, decorated with the "Three Bears" of Goldilocks fame walking past engraved trees. The mug is fabulous quality, quite heavy, the bears are cast and applied, the detail is lovely. The mug is engraved "Mappin & Webb Ltd, London & Sheffield", and all the hallmarks are excellent. Mappin and Webb was founded in 1859, it still exists today and is one of Britain's most prestigious brands. In addition to Royal Warrants, Mappin and Webb are the Crown Jeweller. The was produced just after the end of World War II, silver was very cheap, items from this period are often heavy and superb quality. One of the nicest Christening presents a baby could hope to receive. Note - we have 2 matching items, a plate and bowl, S 1981 and S1983.

A pair of antique sterling silver handled sewing scissors, with the sterling handles modeled as 2 snakes with their tails wrapped around their bodies, and steel blades protruding from open mouth. The steel blades have an indent, very similar to that seen on grape scissors, so these could be grape scissors. The steel blades have makers mark triple S around cross. The scissors have 2 sets of hallmarks on both handles, the first original makers mark (eagle device and N), we believe these are Hanau, Germany, possibly Neresheimer, founded 1893. The second set are London import marks for 1900, with F import mark, and importer mark SBL for Samuel Boyce Landeck. Landeck of Campden Town was a known importer of foreign silver from 1891, he died in 1907, his son Boaz Moses Landeck continued with the business.

An interesting antique silver spoon, used as a prize in a rifle shooting competition in Natal (now Kwazulu Natal), South Africa. The stem has the cast inscription "For Making The Possible", the back of the bowl has an applied plaque, the emblem of the Natal Rifle Association. It contains a seated Boer soldier on a horse, with the motto "Semper Parati" (Always Prepared), and the date 1862, we assume the date the association was formed. The horse and rider are well modelled, as can be seen in the photos. Semper Parati is now the motto of the Boy Scout movement, perhaps Baden Powell encountered it during his time in South Africa during the Boer war. The spoon was made by the highly regarded Levi & Salaman, and has Birmingham hallmarks for 1904. We had a similar spoon, S 1563, now sold, with the same NRA plaque, but motto "For making the Bulls Eye".

A set of 4 cast silver and enamel wine labels, for Whisky, Brandy, Sherry and Gin. The labels are rectangular, with an attractive deeply chased scrolling border, the enamel is a deep Royal blue. These are cast, heavy labels, the quality is excellent, the original chains also have heavy links and are great quality. All 4 labels have clear hallmarks, they also have "Made in England" stamps. Turner and Simpson worked between 1912 and 1979 in the heart of the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, they were a large firm but still employed traditional methods. A fascinating series of 27 photographs by Janine Wiedel of the Turner & Simpson workers can be viewed at the following link, http://wiedel.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Jewellery-Quarter-Birmingham-UK-1970s.

A Georgian silver wine label by Hester Bateman, engraved for Brandy. The label rectangular with a pierced fret dome, this neoclassical design originated in the Bateman studio, and was copied by others, including Susannah Barker and Hampston & Prince in York (Wine Labels 1730-2003, pages 174 and 234). The label has a zig zag feather edge border, raised eyelets, the piercing of the scrolls in the dome is lovely. The label has 2 hallmarks, both clearly struck, makers mark HB in script for Hester Bateman and lion passant. The absence of a duty mark enables us to date the label to before 1784 when the duty mark was introduced, this neoclassical design is thought to orininate around 1770 (Wine Labels page 50).

A Royal Navy Sterling silver matchbook case, designed to hold the cardboard folder containing 2 rows of matches. The case is engine turned, with an applied Royal Naval Crown on the lid, the interior is gilded and has 2 wings for holding the matchbook in place. It is great quality, and has a lovely feel in the hand, with the engine turning giving a pleasing grip. The hallmarks are clear, both on the lid and the base, and the base rim is also engraved "Gieves Ltd London" , for the London retailer. Gieves (now Gieves & Hawkes) is a prestigious Savile Row Tailor, established in 1771, they hold numerous Royal Warrants, including the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales. They have long served the British Army, Royal Navy and the Royal family, clients include Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Churchill and Charlie Chaplin. More recent clients include David Beckham, Bill Clinton and the Braun Formula 1 team (source wikipedia).