An interesting set of 6 Fiddle pattern tableforks, made in 1815, the year of the battle of Waterloo. The forks are a pleasing weight, and very good quality, they have a lovely feel. The forks are engraved with an interesting family crest, a leopards head with an arrow in its mouth, this is unusually engraved on the back of the forks. The hallmarks are excellent, including date letter U for 1815 and makers mark WE/WF for William Eley & William Fearn, who were leading makers of flatware. We welcome any assistance with identification of the family crest.

A rare sterling silver cooks measuring spoon, we have not encountered one of these before. The spoon has the traditional measuring spoon shape, with circular spherical bowl and long flat handle. The spoon has an interesting triple rat-tail joining the bowl to the handle. The hallmarks are on the front of the spoon, and are well struck, they could not be better. The detail on the sterling lion passant and London town mark leopards head is fantastic, please see the photographs.

A rare Victorian silver Armorial butter spade, where the whole blade displays an engraved family armorial. The butter spade has a bone handle, the blade is shield shaped (as opposed to usual triangular shape,) The armorial (centre cross with 4 crosses) is topped with an engraved lion rampant where the blade joins the handle. The bone handle is connected with a silver ferrule. The hallmarks are well struck and clear. Martin Hall & Co was established by Richard Martin and Ebernezer Hall in 1863 in Sheffield, they produced good quality silver until 1911. Butter spades are described by Ian Pickford as "quite rare" (Silver Flatware pg 180), we have not seen another armorial example.

A Pair of lovely French silver 2 pronged forks, with beautiful ornate baluster handles in 800 grade silver. The forks are finely decorated with flowers, scrolls and acanthus leaves, on a matted hand engraved textured surface, the central portion have a diamond engraved pattern with grooves, to improve grip. The steel prongs are long and elegant, sharp and slightly splayed. Both forks have 2 small hallmarks, the French silver Boars Head used for 800 standard (2eme titre) on small items, this mark was in use between 1838 and 1961, and an additional 800 standard mark. We date these forks to mid 19th century, copies of an earlier style.

A collection of 18 vintage Stocknagel, or hiking staff medallions, (also called walking stick badges), bought by hikers to commemorate a particular hike, and attached to their walking stick. Each medallion is stamped metal (not silver), with 2 holes for pin attachment, with lovely detail as can be seen on the photographs. The medallions include: 1. Dresden Neues Rathaus 2. Am Walchensee 3. Carl Hagenbucks Tierpark, Altona Stellingen, Haupteinsgang 4. Riessersee 5. Garmisch Partenkirchen 6. Mittenwold Viererspitse 7. Zum Besten Des Deutchen Marine Ehrenmals Kiel Laboe 8. St Johann Saarbruchen Kaiser Wilhelm Denkmaal 9. Dinkelsbuhl V Ost 10. Heidelberg C Weiss 11. Eibsee Mit Zugspitze 12. Loreleyfelsen 13. Feldberg Schwarzw 1500m UDM 14. Partenkurchen 722m Gegen die Zugspitze 2964m 15. Seilschwebebahn Zum Kreuzeck 1652m 16. Urfeld Am Walchenzee 17. Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festspilhaus 18. Nurnberg Eppelein Spring.

An interesting and rare silver wine label, in Art Nouveau style. The label is rectangular with canted corners, and has been pierced WHISKEY in Art Nouveau style, in a font that closely resembles the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Glasgow school. Whiskey spelt with an E indicates Irish whiskey, Scottish whisky is spelt without the E. The hallmarks are struck on the front of the label, and are very clear, including the W&H in flag punch, they worked between 1884 and 1960, when they were incorporated into Mappin & Webb. British Art Nouveau silver wine labels are rare, the book "Wine Labels 1730-2003" by John Salter, states that "perhaps surprisingly, there seems to have been no record of British Art Nouveau labels", further noting the "only Art Nouveau labels known are American and Continental". Note: we have a matching label for BRANDY S1849.

A magnificent Victorian cast silver Cherub salt, a replica of a style introduced by Paul de Lamerie. The salt have a cast vine leaf bowl, supported by a cherub with arm outstretched, and two dolphin feet supporting the bowl. This is fabulous quality, and the condition is excellent. The cherub (also called amorini and putti, but not cupid as no wings present) is naked except for a small loincloth, he is well modelled, note the detail of his hair. The bowl is a cast vine leaf, also well modelled, and the 2 stylised dolphin feet are copies of those used by Lamerie. The salt is solid, and stands well on the table, no wobble at all. Traces of original gilding are still visible, especially on the harder to reach areas on the body of the cherub (we imagine much of the gilding has been polished off over the years. The cherub is hollow, the casting hole visible under his bottom. The salt is clearly hallmarked on the vine leaf, with makers mark WS in distinctive punch for William Stocker, along with Victorian duty mark...

A delightful Cape silver konfyt fork, one of the most charming we have seen. The fork is in the Hanoverian pattern, with turn up end, it has a form of feather edge engraving at the top of the handle, a long elegant stem (much longer than usual), and 3 tines. It has a v shaped drop, so overall quite different from many Cape silver konfyt forks. The fork is struck with makers mark IVC, this has no dots, the mark is clearly visible but the punch appears a little worn (hence the G being seen as a C). We believe this to be one of the marks used by Johann Voight, it is depicted in David Heller's book "History of Cape Silver", page 163. We have now confirmed 3 different IVG marks on Cape silver, which clearly come from 3 different punches, but probably come from 1 silversmith, or family of silversmiths as sons often took over the business of the father, and used the same punches. The other two IVG marks have different configurations of dots present, see Welz mark 171 with 2 dots, Welz described this maker as "unknow...

An interesting coin silver American single struck Kings shape Thread and Shell pattern teaspoon, made by Samuel Kirk between 1824 and 1827. Whilst we describe this as a teaspoon, it is a large and heavy teaspoon, perfect for eating dessert. Single struck flatware means the pattern is only struck on one side, this only occurred in Scotland in the UK. The spoon has the original owners engraved family crest, a human head with full beard. The spoon has 3 hallmarks, makers mark S.Kirk in serrated rectangular punch for Samuel Kirk, Baltimore Coat of Arms large oval shield mark (quality mark), date letter C for 1824 - 1827, these are all well struck and clear. This dates to a very interesting period in US silver history, Baltimore between 1814 and 1830 was the only place and date where hallmarks were required on silver in the USA. The State Legislature of Maryland passed the Assay Act of 1814, which set the quality standard at 917, the Act was repealed in 1830 due to opposition by the affected silversmiths, includ...

A Darlington Dog Show antique silver jam or marmalade spoon, presented as a trophy in 1912. The spoon is excellent quality, very good weight and feel in the hand, a pleasure to use. The traditional scalloped jam spade bowl has a circular embossed armorial or crest, with bulls head and covered wagons, surrounded by "DARLINGTON DOG SHOW", and the date 1912 engraved beneath. The spoon handle is also lovely, it appears to be a variant of the Windsor pattern (Ian Pickford, Silver Flatware, page 162. The hallmarks are very clear, the spoon also has a registration number meaning the design was protected by Atkin Brothers. The Darlington Dog Show dates back to 1860, when dogs were added to the Darlington Horse and Foal Society, it still exists today, see www.darlingtondogshowsociety.weebly.com. It has championship show status from the Kennel club, is held at Ripon race-track, events attract over 10000 dogs.

A lovely pair of Old English pattern tablespoons, with Leopards head family crest. The leopard is quite realistically engraved, and looks quite fierce. The hallmarks are excellent, as good as they could be, a journeyman's mark (the silversmith who made the spoons in the Wallis workshop) of 2 dots is also present. What is of interest about these hallmarks is the double cusp on the duty mark, to the right and base, this mark was only used between 6 July 1797 and 28 May 1798, 6 July being the date at which duty on silver was doubled from sixpence to one shilling. Jackson shows the 2 cusps to the left and base, this mark was never used on spoons, it was only used on tongs and knife blades that did not require the London town mark (Tony Dove, in an article entitled "The cusped duty used at the assay offices from 1797", in the Finial Vol. 14-04). 1797 was the first year a cusp was used, it was used again periodically when duty changed. The different assay offices applied the usage of cusps differently.

A Unidor sterling silver pendant, in Modernist style, circa 1970. The pendant is circular, the disc has been cut, folded and partly textured, and 17 silver balls of different sizes have been applied. The disc hangs from a long connecting rod, also with 4 balls, the pin has 2 arms similar to a hair-clip. The top of the pin has a connecting loop for a silver chain. The pin is hallmarked "925 UNIDOR", which is small but very clear. Unidor was a German jeweller operating from Pforzheim, the "Goldstadt" or Golden City, renowned for its jewellery industry.

A rare and possibly unique variant of the Fiddle pattern, with a "fish tail" insertion in the handle of a Georgian silver butter knife, made by Thomas James. The blade of the butter knife is nicely shaped and has attractive engraving, but it is the handle that stands out. The knife also has original owners engraved initials IH, in a floral font. The hallmarks including makers mark T.J are well struck and very clear, note the lack of a town mark. Ian Pickford, in his book Silver Flatware, shows a picture of a different but similar Fiddle Pattern variant (Fig 139 page 109), which he describes as "odd and quite possibly unique", made in 1826. Thomas James was freed in 1789, he worked until 1827, he was a small worker. He was a noted maker of caddy spoons, many of which also included this "fish tail" design, but found near the spoon bowl, not up the handle as per this example.

An antique Dutch silver Zeeland Button costume belt buckle, in excellent condition. The buckle has 14 silver Zeeland buttons (Zilver Zeeuwse Knop), 2 large and 12 small, on a rectangular belt buckle, with central supporting strut for attachment to belt. The buttons themselves are made to a traditional design, with balls and filigree work, each Zeeland district has a slight variation. The buckle has 2 hallmarks, makers mark JW and the Dutch sword mark quality guarantee. The Dutch Button has been part of the Zeeland traditional costume since the 18th century.

A fabulous quality Cape silver snuff box, in excellent condition, it has not seen much use (many Cape silver snuff boxes are worn from regular use). The box is rectangular, it has a lovely thumbpiece, similar in shape to a Cape Dutch gable. The engraving is typically Cape, with foliate and wrigglework borders, and stippling on the sides and base. The central cartouche is vacant, it has never been engraved with initials, which might explain its well preserved condition. The interior is gilded, and the original gilding is also extremely well preserved. The interior lid corner has a scratch cross, probably a mark of ownership. The hallmarks are also excellent, Welz mark 116, makers initials MLS set between 3 crown devices. Smith was a Dane who arrived in the Cape in 1757 age 35, so we assume already trained as a silversmith (his work is always good quality). He lived a long live, married 4 times, and had 10 children, he died in 1806 age 84.

A Georgian silver wine label, with original engraving for Madeira, by the Phipps family of silversmiths, who have been described as one of the best known London firms producing labels (Wine Labels 1730-2003, page 168). The label is rectangular with fully rounded ends, and has a reeded border (note this is classified as a rectangular label rather than an oval label, which are more eye shaped (Wine labels page 51). The label has 2 holes for the suspensory rings connected to the original chain. The label is also engraved with original owners initials RB on the back just above the hallmarks. The hallmarks are very crisp and clear, they could not be better, the detail of hair on the duty mark and mane on the lion passant are clearly visible. The makers mark is interesting, TP over ER in quatrefoil punch, without pellets. This is an unregistered punch, not recorded in Grimwade (London Goldsmiths 1697-1837), Phipps and Robinson usual registered punch, similar but with clearly defined pellets, Grimwade 2891, used bet...

An antique Dutch silver gilt vinaigrette (zilveren lodereindoosje) in the form of an armoire (kabinet). These have also been described as pomanders, scent boxes, and also incorrectly described as snuff boxes and peppermint boxes. The box has a curved shaped front, and the back panel has the impressed words "HE. DAT IS LIEF", translated He that is love", so probably presented as a love token. The armoire has frontal doors with floral decoration, and 3 drawers below, the back and side panels also have floral decoration. The lid is decorated with an angel reaching up to pluck fruit, with trees in the background, the figure is quite crude, almost as if drawn by a young child. The base is engraved with original owners initials HDV. The hallmarks include Lion Passant 2nd Purity for 833 grade silver (inside main box), and the rim has makers mark AM over 3 dots in rectangular punch (or WV below 3 dots), we have not been able to identify this maker, all assistance welcome. The rim also has Minerva head duty mark (off...

A stylish set of six sterling silver coffee spoons, with an unusual but attractive shell design, we have not encountered this design before. The spoons are perfectly preserved in their original box, the box reads "James Dixon & Sons, Sheffield, Made in England", we assume the retailer. All 6 spoons are clearly hallmarked. Atkin Brothers was a well known firm founded by Henry Atkin in 1851, it survived over 100 years until it was acquired by C.J. Vander in 1958.

A British Bulldog Club antique sterling silver trophy spoon, which is in excellent condition. The spoon features a well modelled bulldog head, above legend "THE BRITISH BULLDOG CLUB". The spoon is based on a single struck Kings pattern, but was specially commissioned by the club who wanted to present a more useful trophy than a medal. The club was established in 1892, and still operates today (although I doubt they still have such beautiful silver spoon trophies!). The hallmarks are clear, this spoon was made in Birmingham in 1906 by J A Restall & Co, who worked between 1881 and 1934.

A rare and interesting 17th century silver spice box/ vinaigrette, with a polished oval agate panel set in the lid. The box is beautifully engraved, particularly the base which has 2 birds reaching for a hanging bundle of fruit. The box in rectangular with cut corners (so octagonal in shape), the raised lid is cushion shaped, with a mounted oval of polished orange agate. The box has a protruding thumb piece for easy opening, and stand-away (protruding). The engraving is mostly scrolling foliage, with a border of acanthus leaves, the base and hinge have a diaper border. The rim has 2 sets of engraving, the first reads "EF 1711" on the front side panel, the next reads "WC 1714" on the 2 side panels. These were engraved by different hands, the second WC 1714 is much cruder than the first, which is quite charming, with cross hatching inside the letters and "double engraved" numbers, the first could have been professionally engraved, the second probably done by the new owner. The interior of the box is interestin...