Old Silver

( Originally Published In 1924 )

The collector of old silver has the advantage over his rivals of being more likely to render his collection of pecuniary advantage to him, but he must be possessed of important information, mustbe careful in his purchases, and ought to have a safe in which to deposit his treasures of silver-ware.

There are bargains to be obtained, even in the precious metals. Breakfasting some years ago with a friend, I remarked on the beauty of his egg-spoons. "Sixpence each," he told me, and my reply was that surely they were silver. "Quite so, but that was all I gave for them at a country sale. They are French of the eighteenth century, and I happened to be familiar with Rosenberg's work and in consequence recognised as silver what the auctioneer declared was only electro-plate."

A man whom I knew quite well purchased some years ago, at an auction sale, an enormous venison dish and cover, large enough to hold a haunch. No one dreamed that it could possibly be silver, it was so huge, but he had seen the rare Exeter Hall mark, and carried it off for a five-pound note, making a magnificent profit, even at melting price, upon his curious purchase.

Perhaps spoons are the best things to which a collector can devote his attention. The celebrated Staniforth set of spoons, dated 1519, only fetched sixty-two guineas in 1855, and is practically unrivalled. It was sold some few years ago for a very considerable sum-very many hundreds.

The earliest known dated piece of English silver is a spoon dated 1445. The earliest piece with the London Hall mark is 1488, a spoon that was in the Staniforth collection. This is not to say that there is no English silver earlier than this, for there are two amazing pieces, belonging to the latter half of the fourteenth century, which belonged to the late Lord Carysfort, and were picked up in Whittlesea Mere. They are a censer and incense boat, and they and the William of Wykeham crozier are perhaps the finest examples of very early silver work-although, of course, earlier than that, comes the Saxon work of the City sceptre, surrounding its crystal shaft, which is much older still.

Then, of course, there is the interesting series of bowls, called mazers, the spotted wood of which they are made taking its name from the same source as that from which we get the word "measles." These date from the thirteenth century, are executed in fine silver, and very occasionally come into the market. They were the bowls and cups of the time.

The collector can hardly hope to come upon an Elizabethan service, such as that which was made from the loot of the Armada, and hidden away for a couple of generations, and then sold at Christie's for eleven thousand five hundred guineas, but he may come across some small pieces of great value, because the price of fine old silver is steadily going up in importance.

He must, however, be acquainted with the fact that there are hall-marks to be looked for, and he must know something of the special marks that were given by the provincial assay offices, such as those of Newcastle, Chester, Exeter and Norwich or Sheffield.

He must know that, in connection with Chester, there were sometimes five hall-marks, and sometimes six. He must remember that in London there are five hall-marks from 1784, and preceding that date, as a rule, four.

He must remember that the leopard under one of the marks is crowned until 1822, and after that has no crown, and that the alphabets that give the date letter have only twenty letters in them, instead of twenty-six, except once, in 1696, when there are but nineteen.

Then, he must know all about the Higher Standard mark, when all plate between March, 1697, and the end of 1719 had to be of higher value than the coinage, to prevent clipping, and is marked with the Britannia and the lion's head erased.

If he finds it without the lion's head, he must know it was intended to be exported, and in his pocket-book he should have a list of the date letters, and notes as to the shapes of the shields in which they are contained. Very often, these can be obtained from Whitaker's Almanack.

There are some wonderful pieces of plate in existence. The City Companies of London have amazing treasures, and so have many of the provincial Corporations: The election cup of Winchester, which is proved to have been made in Queen Mary's time by the Marygold that can be seen inside it, is a very notable thing, but the collector must always bear in mind when pieces of silver were introduced into use. I have seen a fish slice dated 1712, when there were no fish slices. I have heard of dessert knives with a date of Queen Anne's time, or William the Third's, and I knew a collector who once begged his silversmith to obtain for him an Elizabethan coffee-pot with a black handle, entirely forgetting that such a thing it would be impossible to find; it was like another collector who begged a dealer to find him an Elizabethan hat and umbrella stand, and who, like the first-named one, was possessed of money without knowledge.

In Lord Swaythling's collection I saw an extraordinary ostrich-egg cup, given to a parson by his parishioners in the City in 1623, "for his painstaking with us by his often preaching." I wonder whether it was intended in an ironic sense ! It was a curious way of throwing an egg at an orator.

A piece of plate has recently come to light that was engraved by Hogarth when he was apprenticed to Gamble. I believe it will be illustrated in a new book on Hogarth, but I quite expect that more pieces of Hogarth's work will turn up.

If the collector is lucky enough to get hold of an Irish silver ring, do not let him call it a "potato ring," its right title is a " dish ring." It should be different in size whether turned towards the top or the bottom, and it was intended to hold the hot dishes, and protect the polish of the table from them. It certainly often held a wooden bowl containing potatoes in their skins, because they were served in this fashion in Ireland, but just as frequently, it held other dishes, and yet certain collectors, who do not understand the reason, will always talk of it as an "Irish potato ring."