A W.R.N.S. (Women's Royal Naval Service) 9 carat gold and enamel Sweetheart brooch, probably dating back to WW II. The brooch has lovely detail, with 2 tones of gold, the W.R.N.S. badge of a bird (wren) sitting on an anchor behind the naval crown, above W.R.N.S. scroll in blue enamel. This is mounted on a 9 carat gold bar brooch, with gold pin and locking clasp, often these pins are not gold. The bar is clearly hallmarked 9CT for 9 carat gold. The W.R.N.S. (popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the Women's branch of the Royal Navy, served as cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics, in 1944 they had 75000 service women.

A South African Medical Corps WW II gold sweetheart brooch, mounted on a bar brooch. The badge features the rod of Aesculapius with a serpent entwined round it, head uppermost and looking left, all within a laurel wreath, under a Royal crown, the same badge as used by the Royal Medical Corps. The Scroll below reads "S.A.M.C / S.A.G.D.", translated in Afrikaans the Suid Afrikaanse Geneeskunige Diens. The brooch is clearly hallmarked 9CT for 9 carat gold, the swivel clasp securely fastens the pin.

A World War II 9 carat gold and enamel sweetheart brooch for the Durban Light Infantry Regiment of South Africa. The brooch features the infantry bugle with tassles under the Royal crown. The brooch has 2 colours of enamel, red in the crown and blue for the letters DLI, the gold has 2 tones, this is a lovely quality brooch. The clasp has a swivel locking mechanism to keep it safely fastened. the brooch is clearly hallmarked 9CT for nine carat gold. The George VI crown shows this dates to WW II, the DLI fought in North Africa and Italy (including El Alamein and Monte Cassino). The regiment was founded in 1854, and still exists today, they were called the Royal Durban Light Infantry between 1935 and 1961 when South Africa became a Republic.

A pair of Victorian silver toddy ladles, in the Old English Thread pattern, made in London for a Scottish family. The ladles have engraved Scottish crests of a hand grasping a dagger issuing from a heart, underneath motto "With Heart and Hand", the engraving on both is crisp and clear (only Scottish motto's are above the crest). The ladles are double struck, with pattern on both sides, and the thread is a double thread. They are good quality ladles, a pleasing weight, and preserved in excellent condition. Toddy ladles are uniquely Scottish, and usually single struck, so this London made double struck pair are unusual. The hallmarks on both are very clear, including makers mark H.H for Henry Holland, an important firm established in 1838 that became Holland, Aldwinckle & Slater, until absorbed into Francis Higgins in 1922. The crest and motto are for the Dudgeon family. A notable Victorian London based Dudgeon business was J&W Dudgeon, a shipbuilding and engineering company, they built blockade runners for the...

A Gold and enamel sweetheart brooch for the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own), set on a gold safety pin for attachment. The brooch has the regimental badge, complete with battle honours "ALBUHERA" in white enamel, "ICH DIEN" and "MIDDLESEX REGT" in blue enamel, and the Royal coronet of the Duke of Cambridge in red enamel. The badge also has gold Prince of Wales plumes, and the cypher of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge. The brooch has no hallmarks, but most brooches of this period were 15 Carat gold. The regiment existed between 1881 and 1966, but has battle honours from Albuhera (Peninsular War, 16 May 1811), their nickname was the "Die Hards". They fought during the Anglo Boer War (Relief of Ladysmith), First World War and Second World War, when they were a machine gun regiment. We believe this brooch to be either Boer War or WWI period.

A Danish modernist silver strawberry serving spoon, in Georg Jensen style. The spoon is beautiful, and is a good weight and quality. The spoon has a large circular bowl, with a pierced strawberry leaf design, to allow the juices to be drained before serving. The handle is cast, and has 2 well designed strawberries amongst foliage, these are embossed so provide a nice grip for the handle. This spoon is a useful size, suitable for serving other items besides strawberries. The spoon has 4 hallmarks, all of which are well struck and clear. The Danish 3 tower mark and date letter 33 for 1933 indicates purity of 826/1000, the SJ assay master mark (Stadtsguardein) for Johannes Siggaard (worked between 1932 and 1960). The 3rd mark is "Haandarbejde" indicating this item was made by hand, and the 4th mark is the script F surrounded by oval dots, the assay master mark for Frederik Fabritius, who worked between 1787 and 1823. The presence of this older assay masters mark is a mystery, it has also been observed on other D...

A Scottish Provincial silver Fiddle pattern dessert spoon, by a very rare maker, with excellent hallmarks. The spoon is engraved with initial F in contemporary style, a single initial as is often the case in Scotland. The hallmarks are excellent, well struck and very clear, and include makers mark CT, Gothic A, incuse Fleur De Lys, Gothic A, makers mark CT, for Charles Torchetti, who worked in Aberdeen from 1825 until his death in 1840. In the book "Aberdeen Silver" by Michael Wilson, he is described as a "rare maker, with occasional Fiddle pattern spoons and forks". He was described as a picture framer, optician and looking glass maker in the Aberdeen Trade Directory (Wilson pg 34), he worked from Queens Street. Wilson also notes that Alexander Grant used the same Gothic A and incuse Flear De Lys, and that they came from the same punch, so surmises that Torchetti bought spoons from Grant and applied his own makers mark. The provenance of this spoon is also interesting, it has spent the last 40 years as part...

A fabulous pair of scarce Kings Fiddle Husk tablespoons, of exceptional quality and weight, made by Elizabeth Eaton. These spoons both weigh over 105 grammes each, amongst the heaviest we have encountered. The spoons have the Husk heel, and have no initials or engraving. Kings Husk pattern is a scarce variant of the Kings pattern, the most obvious difference being the omission of the central honeysuckle and a husk shell rather than a concave shell (Pickford, Silver Flatware, pg 136). In addition there is no shell on the back. It was first produced during the Regency, Paul Storr also produced this pattern. The hallmarks are clear on both spoons, including makers mark EE in a bifoil punch, for Elizabeth Eaton. Eaton inherited the firm in 1845 on the death of her husband William, her son John joined the business in 1854, they sold the business to Henry Holland in 1864. (Culme, Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, pg 134). The firm had a good reputation, Elizabeth Eaton exhibited silver spoons and forks at the Gr...

An interesting Georgian silver snuffbox, with Finlayson family interest. The snuff box has an engraved cross hatch design, with 2 intersecting straps, copying an early suitcase or trunk. The snuff box is curved, so would fit snugly in a pocket. The interior is gilded. The straps are very suitable for engraving, and the names of 4 different generations of Finlaysons have been engraved on this one. The 4 names include "John Finlayson Merchant, Canongate 1760, John Finlayson S.S.C. Edinburgh 1824, Thomas B. Finlayson 1862, Mary H. Finlayson 1874". The base is also engraved with owners initials AF 1833, we assume another Finlayson. The script engraving of all 4 names is different, so was engraved at different times as ownership of the box transferred. The first date precedes the age of the box, so we assume the 2nd Finlayson started the tradition. The hallmarks are clear, and include makers mark ID without pellet (Grimwade 1250), this could be John Douglas or John Death, we assume Douglas as he was a known snuf...

An octagonal silver sparrow beak milk jug, a modern reproduction of a popular 18th century style, circa 1725. It is pitcher shaped, has a scroll handle, and sits on an applied octagonal foot. The base of the sparrow beak has 2 applied balls, completing the design. The jug is a very good weight and quality, as you would expect from Garrards, the Crown Jewellers. In addition to being a very pleasing design, it pours beautifully, so very suitable for use. The hallmarks are excellent, including makers mark "G & Co Ld". Garrards is a very prestigious firm, originally founded by George Wickes in 1722. They succeeded Rundell, Bridge & Co as Crown Jewellers in 1843, and are still based in Regent Street.

A lovely set of 6 Rat-tail Hanoverian coffee spoons with gilded bowls, and matching sugar tongs. These spoons have wavy rat-tails, a very unusual feature we have not seen before. The arms of the tongs are modeled as matching spoons, complete with the wavy rat-tail. Hallmarks on all 7 items are clear. Harry Synyer and Charles Beddoes worked between 1897 and 1949, from Vyse Street, Birmingham.

A pair of Fiddle pattern toddy ladles, along with an Old English example, but all made by the same maker in the same year. Given Edinburgh hallmarks, the maker WC could be confused with William Cunningham of Edinburgh, but his makers mark is always in a shaped cartouche. The hallmarks on on all 3 are very clear. Note the switching of the order of the duty mark on the pair.

A set of 3 Fiddle pattern Cape silver tablespoons, which are notable for their strong colonial feel, being slightly crude in nature, and with hand hammered stems. Each spoon is slightly different, clearly each spoon was made by hand, probably in primitive conditions. The drops are also crude, and have an amateurish feel, perhaps these were made by a novice apprentice? All 3 spoons have pseudo hallmarks, date letter a, date letter B and duty head, with no makers mark. The shape of the outline of date letter B is notched on both sides, making it very distinctive - hence our attribution to Peter Clarke Daniel (mark 41, Cape Silver by Welz). Mark 41 has the 2 date letters (a and B) together, with the duty mark - given the outline and occurrance we are pretty certain the same punches were used, but perhaps not by Peter Daniel himself. Further research is required, as we know Cape silversmiths occasionally interchanged punches amongst one another.

Unusual and beautiful Fiddle pattern serving spoon and fork. The spoon bowl is an unusual oval shape. Forks of this size are rare, serving sets even more so. Beautiful stags head crest and clear hallmarks.

A magnificent silver beaker, decorated with 10 silver staves, which in addition to being decorative greatly improve the grip. It is extremely good quality and weight, and a pleasure to hold. The base is engraved "Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Co, Regent St, W", and the hallmarks are clear. The Goldsmiths and Silversmiths company existed from 1880 to 1952, when it was absorbed into Garrards, the Crown Jewellers. Given it's date of 1916, we imagine it was used for water or whisky by an officer in the Great War. This beaker is a replica of a medieval beaker dated 1496 (Henry VII), that used to belong to Cardinal Wolsey. It is featured in an advertisement for Alexander Clark Co Ltd of Oxford Street, London, priced at 3 pounds 10 shillings, that appeared in The Connoisseur magazine of July 1912, which advertised reproductions of historical and classic cups, including the tudor bowl and cup, and Pompeii jug. High quality reproductions of famous silver items were popular in the early years of the 20th century, they ar...

A rare matching spoon and fork in the Old English Military Bead & Shell pattern, a pattern that is not recorded by Ian Pickford in his book "Silver Flatware". They are dessert size, so probably made for a child, as a Christening present. The base pattern is large bead (used in 19th century, fine bead was 18th century), but has been supplemented with the Shell pattern (concave on one side and convex on the other). This combination of bead and shell pattern is not recorded by Pickford and is not shown in the Chawner pattern book of 1875 (Pickford, Silver Flatware, pages 217-220), so must be described as rare. What adds to the rarity of this pair are the 2 small scrolls instead of shoulders, hence the Military designation, which has been recorded with Husk, Thread and Shell patterns, but not with Bead (Pickford page 230). The pair are double struck, and have engraved owners initials MH is script. Both are clearly hallmarked, including makers mark GA for Chawner & Co, who were the leading manufactures of silver ...

An Iona sterling Silver Prioress Anna Disc and Shield brooch, made by Alexander Ritchie of Iona, one of the most respected and sought after Scottish silver jewellers of the 20th century. The brooch is a classic Ritchie design in Celtic Arts & Crafts style, a convex shield with Celtic cross, and central knotwork boss. The 4 arms feature a copy of the stone effigy of Prioress Anna Maclean of Iona, the central boss reads "Prioress Anna - Iona". The original stone carving of Prioress Anna is still visible on Iona. The brooch is cast, the pin is in full working order, and the original safety pin chain is still intact and working. The hallmarks are worn, makers mark AR is just visible, as is "IONA" which is legible but worn. A second AR and IONA is present but badly worn. No date letter or townmark is present. We assume this means this was an early Ritchie piece, made before he started using the Chester assay office in 1910. A registration number (to protect the design) is clearly visible, Rd No 664083. Alex Ritc...

An unusual silver table bell, with cast silver handle of 2 young boys (cherubs or putti?), one holding the other upside down by the ankles. The casting has lovely detail, as can be seen in the photographs. The bell is quite heavy, and is good quality, with a clear ring. The clanger is also hallmarked silver. The hallmarks are clear, including makers mark JS, which appear to over strike another mark, so possibly JS is a retailer. We would welcome opinions on the significance of the cherubs, thank you.

A silver quaich of traditional shape, with 2 flat lug handles, and quite a large size. It is quite plain, which accentuates its lovely shape. The base is engraved "H.H. Plante, 12 Bury St, St James, S.W.", and the hallmarks are very clear. Quaiches are traditional Scottish drinking vessels, one's this size were passed around at ceremonial occasions. They are popular christening gifts in Scotland. The firm of H.H. Plante (Henry Hudson Plante) worked between 1907 and 1980.

An early antique silver trefid spoon, preserved in excellent condition, and with good hallmarks. The spoon is the traditional trefid shape (also called Pied de Biche, as the style originated in France), and has a lovely reeded rat-tail, which is quite rare. The spoon is engraved with contemporary initials "K * M", engraved correctly on the back of the spoon. The spoon is good quality, and has a lovely feel. The hallmarks include makers mark DO in diamond shaped punch with Fleur de Lys above and below. This mark belongs to Dorothy Grant (Grimwade 3591, Jackson pg 136, under 1680). Dorothy Grant was the widow of William Grant, she worked until 1712, both her sons Benjamin and William apprenticed under her (Grimwade pg 527). Other marks include crowned leopards head (worn), lion passant and date letter O for 1691, which is very clear. Note: We had originally ascribed this mark to John Downes (Jackson, pg 155, Wyler, pg 145, Grimwade pg 46), but this mark is clearly in a diamond rather than circular punch used by...