HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER
MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION

WITH THE ADDITION OF SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS
  created by Giorgio B. owner of
www.silvercollection.it © English home page
 home page in Italiano page d'accueil en francais
This is a page of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1000 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, sheffield plate, electroplate silver, silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles, books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington, WMF, Reed & Barton, Mappin & Webb, Bateman Family), history, oddities ...
SITE MAP - HOME PAGE
BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MARKS: JT-JZ
ALPHABETICAL LISTING
OF SILVERSMITHS' NAMES		 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
  [B] = BIRMINGHAM    [C] = Chester   [D] = DUBLIN  [E] = EDIMBURGH  [EX] = EXETER  [G] = GLASGOW    [L] = LONDON  [N] = NEWSCASTLE   
[S] = SHEFFIELD   [Y] = YORK
(lower-case letter denote smaller ones but they may be capital letters)
CLICK ON THE YELLOW NAME FOR MAKER'S MARK IMAGE
JT into a rectangle (John Tongue [ B ] ) mid 19th c.
JT in script with a cup (John Tuite [ C ] ) early 18th c.
JT and English pseudo-hallmarks (John Townsend [CAPE] ) 1830 c.
J.T (John Townsend [ C ] ) 19th c./1st half
J.T (John Townsend [D] ) 19th c./1st half
J.T into a rectangle (John Tongue [ B ][ L ] ) mid 19th c.
J.T over &Co into a shield (John Turton & Co [ S ] ) 20th c./1st half.

J.T & Co (John Turton & Co [S] ) 20th c./2nd half
J.T & S (John Thompson & Sons [S] ) end 19th/20th c./1st half
J.T.D into a lozenge (J T Deeley [ B ] ) 20th c./1st half
JTH over JHM into a quatrefoil (John Thomas Heath & John Hartshorne Middleton of Hukin & Heath [ B ][ L ] ) end 19th/beg. 20th c.
JTW into an oval (James Thomas White [ C ] [ L ] ) 19th c./2nd half
J.U&S (James Usher & Son [ C ][ S ] ) 20th c./1st half
J.V (James Vickery [ L ] ) 19th c./2nd half
J.V (Cornelius Joshua Vander [ L ] ) end 19th c./beginning 20th c.
JV over JH (Vander & Hedges -John Gotlieu Vander & John Hedges- [ L ] ) 19th c./2nd half.
J star W in script (James Williams [ L ] ) 18th c./2nd half.
JW (John West [ C ] ) beginning 19th c.
JW in script of various shapes (John James Whiting [ L ] ) 19th c./1st half
JW into an indented oval (Joseph Willmore [ B ] ) 19th c./1st half
JW into two squares (J Walker [ B ] ) 19th c./2nd half
JW (James Wright [ E ] ) 19th c./2nd half.
JW (John Williamson [ E ] ) 19th c./2nd half.
JW into two conjoined circles (Josiah Williams [ EX ] ) 19th c./2nd half
JW into two circles (J. Wilmot [ B ]) end 19th/beg. 20th c.
JW into an oval (James Wintle [ L ] ) 19th c./1st half

J.W (Joseph Whalley [ C ] ) 18th c./2nd half
J.W into an oval (Joseph Willmore [ B ] ) end 18th c./19th c./1st half
J.W into a rectangle (James Wintle [ L ] ) 19th c./1st half
J.W into a sort of conjoined circles (James Weir I [ G ] ) 20th c./1st half
J.W over & Co into a quatrefoil (Josiah Williams & Co [ EX ] ) 19th c./2nd half
JW& Co into an oblong chamfered rectangle (Josiah Williams & Co (possibly) [ L ] ) 20th c./1st half
J.W over & over JW into a quatrefoil (James & Josiah Williams [ EX ] ) 19th c./2nd half
J.W&S into an oval (James Woods & Sons [ B ] ) 20th c./1st half
JW&T into a lozenge (Johnson, Walker & Tolhurst [ B ][ L ] ) 20th c./1st half
J over W.B over P into a crossed cartouche (William Bond & James Phipps I [ L ] ) entered 1754
J.W.B into an oval (James William Benson [ L ] ) 20th c./1st half
J W B into three conjoined lozenges ( W Benson Ltd [ L ] ) 20th c./1st half
J.W over E.H into a square (John Waterhouse & Edward Hatfield & Co [ S ] ) entered 1836
J.W over F.C.W into a trefoil (James Wakely & Frank Clarke Wheeler [ B ] ) 20th c./1st half
JWH over JTH into a quatrefoil (Jonathan Wilson Hukin & John Thomas Heath [ L ] ) 19th c./2nd half
JW over JW into a square (James & Josiah Williams [ EX ] ) mid 19th c.
JWS (John Walter Spurrier [ L ] ) 20th c./1st half
J.W.T into three circles (J W Tiptaft & Son Ltd [ B ] ) 20th c./1st half
J.Y (Yates Brothers [ S ]) 20th c./1st half
J.Y.C (John Yeomans Cowlishaw [ S ]) 20th c./1st half
JZ in script (John Zeigler [ E ]) 19th c./1st half
BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS
London town marks Birmingham town marks Dublin town marks Edinburgh town marks Sheffield town marks Exeter town marks
London Birmingham Dublin Edinburgh Sheffield Chester
The hallmarking of British silver is based on a combination of marks that makes possible the identification of the origin and the age of each piece. The marks are:

Town mark, corresponding to the mark of the Assay Office that has verified the piece
London town mark Sheffield town mark Birmingham town mark Newcastle town mark Dublin town mark Edimburgh town mark Glasgow town mark

Lion passant guardant or Britannia or lion's head erased, certifiying the silver quality
lion passant: 1598-1820 lion passant: after 1820 Britannia and lion's head erased: from 1697 to 1718
Maker's mark, identifying the silversmith presenting the piece to the assay office (usually the initials of Christian name and surname of the silversmith)

Date letter, in cycles of twenty letters of the alphabet of different shape identifies the year in which the piece was verified by the Assay Office
London date letter 'a'
A further mark was used in the period 1784 - 1890:
Sovereign head ('duty mark'), certifying the payment of the duty
Sovereign head: duty mark from 1784 to 1890
work in progress on this page - your help, corrections and suggestions will be greatly appreciated -