MAPPIN & WEBB

DATE LETTER MARKS ON SILVER PLATE

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DATING MAPPIN & WEBB SILVER PLATE

From centuries British silver is protected by the stamping of symbols and letters identifying the maker, the Assay Office and the date in which the quality of the silver piece was verified.
Thanks to the "date letter" any piece of British sterling silver can be exactly dated.
Old Sheffield Plate and Electroplated silver are not subject to this practice and the regulation issued by the authorities had the main objective of preventing possible frauds by unscrupulous sellers of plated ware.
The best-known initiative is the prohibition (effective from c. 1896: Elkington was forced to change its mark in 1898) of stamping plated wares with the "crown", to avoid misunderstanding with the symbol identifying the Sheffield Assay Office.
The absence of an official dating system makes it difficult to date silver plated wares. An approximate date can be determined by examining:
- the style of the object
- the presence or absence of the crown (before or after c. 1896)
- the date of registration of the pattern at the Patent Office
- the presence of a dated dedication
- the date of the event (example: King/Queen Coronation or Jubilee commemorative spoons).
- "Ltd" or "Ld" on the mark denotes a date after 1861 (but in most cases not before 1890)
- a registered number (Rd followed by a number) denotes a date after 1883
- "England" denotes a date after 1891 (mandatory for export in the USA - McKinley Tariff Act of 1890-)
- "Made in England" denotes a 20th century date (mandatory after 1921 for export in the USA)
The largest manufacturers introduced, on a voluntary basis, a dating system of their silver plate based on series of letters of various style contained into shields or geometric figures. The first was Elkington (1841), followed by Walker & Hall (1884) and Mappin & Webb (but other less known makers tried to do something similar).
The key to decrypt Elkington date system is well known and widely illustrated in my website ( click here for Elkington page), that of Walker & Hall is known (but not disclosed as covered by copyright), while that of Mappin & Webb is, to the best of my knowledge, still unknown.
As a modest contribute to the knowledge of Mappin & Webb dating system I publish in this page some sets of images of marks bearing what looks as a date letter.
Not all pieces marked Mappin and Webb bear the date letter and often is difficult for me to decipher the style of the letter. In some cases I add some information that could be useful for an approximate dating of the mark.
Any new information, suggestion and addition of missing marks will be highly appreciated (mail to silverassociation@yahoo.it )



The patent number 24536 present on "k" was issued in 1885

Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'G gothic'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'I gothic'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'J gothic'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'K gothic'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'L gothic'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'P gothic'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'x Old English style'  date letter




Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'A' date letter

Prince's Plate is advertised from c. 1890
Letter "d" on a vase belonging to Hotel Metropole, Bexhill on Sea (active 1900-1941)
The lower case "q" is on a coffee pot found in Argentina bearing also the symbol "BA" (probably standing for Buenos Aires). The Buenos Aires store was opened in 1911 and was still active in 1926.


Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'd' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'e' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'f' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'h' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'i' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'j' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 't' date letter

Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'm Old English style' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'p Old English style' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'q Old English style'  date letter and BA Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'q Old English style'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'r Old English style'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'w Old English style'  date letter



Series used from c.1900 to c.1927 as:
uppercase letter "Q" was found on a cup inscribed "MT Depot Grove Park winners of inter-depot league 1918-19 Pte W Gibson" (MT stands for 'Mechanical Transport', a military depot at Grove Park (London) during the First World War -courtesy Gareth-)


Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'Q' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'Y' date letter

Series used in the 1930s as:
lowercase letter "j" found on a commemorative spoon (1935 silver jubilee)


Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'd' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'g' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'h' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'j' date letter, on a silver jubilee spoon 1910-1935 Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'h' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'o' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'p' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'v' date letter

The "H" was found in a piece with dedication dated 1936

Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'G into a pentagon'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'H into a pentagon'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'I' date letter

Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'D Old English style'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'L Old English style'  date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, capital 'P Old English style'  date letter



The upper case "N" is on an item bearing the "broad arrow" and date 1960
Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'A' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'B' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'C' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'E' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'I' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'N' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'V' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, uppercase 'W' date letter Mappin & Webb, silver plate mark, lowercase 'z' date letter

DATE LETTERS:
     
WALKER & HALL      ELKINGTON      MAPPIN & WEBB     THOMAS BRADBURY & SONS






BRITISH SILVER MAKERS: MARKS, HISTORY AND INFORMATION
Adie & Lovekin markAdie & Lovekin John Charle Angell & George Angell markAngell Family Asprey & Co markAsprey & Co Atkin Brothers markAtkin Brothers Barker Brothers markBarker Brothers E. Barnard & Sons markE.Barnard & Sons Hester Bateman markBateman Family Maurice Baum markM. Baum Gerald Benney markG. Benney Barnabus Blackburn markB.Blackburn Boardman, Glossop & Co Ltd markBoardman,Glossop & Co Matthew Boulton markM.Boulton Charles Boyton & Son markC.Boyton & Son Thomas Bradbury & Sons markT.Bradbury & Sons Alfred Browett trade markA.Browett Chawner & Co markChawner & Co Alexander Clark Manufacturing Co markA.Clark Manufacturing Co G.R. Collis & Co markG.R.Collis & Co Augustin Courtauld markCourtauld Family Daniel & Arter markDaniel & Arter go to James Deakin & Sons pageJ.Deakin & Sons Stuart Devlin markS.Devlin Deykin & Sons markDeykin & Sons James Dixon & Sons markJ.Dixon & Sons Dobson & Sons markDobson & Sons William Eley I and William Fearn markEley family Elkington hallmarkElkington & Co John Emes markEmes family Fattorini & Sons markFattorini & Sons Charles Thomas Fox and George Fox markFox family Garrard & Co Ltd markGarrard & Co Samuel Godbehere markS.Godbehere Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Co markGoldsmiths & Silversmiths Co Henry Griffith  & Sons markH.Griffith & Sons John Grinsell & Sons markJ.Grinsell & Sons Hamilton & Inches markHamilton & Inches Hancock & Co markC.F.Hancock Harrison Brothers & Howson markHarrison Br. & Howson Hawksworth, Eyre & Co Ltd markHawksworth Eyre & Co Hayne & Cater markHayne & Cater Hennell family markHennell family Holland Aldwinckle & Slater markHolland Aldwinckle & Slater Horton & Allday markHorton & Allday Hukin & Heath Ltd markHukin & Heath William Hutton & Sons Ltd markW.Hutton & Sons George Jamieson markG.Jamieson Lambert & Co trade markLambert & Co Paul De Lamerie markP.deLamerie Latham & Morton markLatham & Morton Levi & Salaman markLevi & Salaman Lister & Sons markLister & Sons Charles Maas markC.Maas & Co Mappin & Webb markMappin & Webb Martin Hall & Co markMartin Hall & Co R.F. Mosley markR.F.Mosley Henry George Murphy markH.G.Murphy Pairpoint Brothers markPairpoint Brothers H.H. Plante markH.H.Plante Thomas Prime & Son markT.Prime & Son Robert Pringle & Sons markR.Pringle & Sons Omar Ramsden markO. Ramsden Reid & Sons markReid & Sons Richards & Brown markRichards & Brown Roberts & Belk markRoberts & Belk John Round & Son Ltd markJ.Round & Son Sampson Mordan & Co Ltd markSampson Mordan & Co Goldsmiths' Alliance Ltd  Ltd markA.B.Savory & Sons Sibray, Hall & Co markSibray, Hall & Co W & G Sissons markW & G Sissons Smily family markSmily Family Spurrier trade markSpurrier Paul Storr markP.Storr Tessiers Ltd trade markTessiers Ltd F.B. Thomas & Co markF.B.Thomas & Co George Unite & Sons markG.Unite & Sons C.J. Vander Ltd markC.J.Vander Wakely & Wheeler markWakely & Wheeler Walker & Hall markWalker & Hall D & J Wellby Ltd markD&J Wellby Ltd West & Son markWest & Son Henry Wilkison & Co markH.Wilkinson & Co Josiah Williams & Co markJ.Williams & Co Horace Woodward & Co Ltd markH.Woodward & Co
BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - ILLUSTRATED LISTING OF MAKER'S AND SPONSOR'S MARKS
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BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS

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