ENGLISH ELECTROPLATE SILVER MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF SHEFFIELD AND BIRMINGHAM SILVER PLATE MAKERS

WITH THE ADDITION OF OTHER BRITISH, SCOTTISH AND IRISH MAKERS

created by Giorgio B. owner of www.silvercollection.it ©

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The two common forms of plated silver are Sheffield plate and silverplate/electroplate.
Sheffield Plate is a cheaper substitute for sterling, produced by fusing sheets of silver to the top and bottom of a sheet of copper or base metal. This 'silver sandwich' was then worked into finished pieces. At first it was only put on one side and later was on top and bottom.
Modern electroplating was invented by Italian chemist Luigi V. Brugnatelli in 1805. Brugnatelli used his colleague Alessandro Volta's invention of five years earlier, the voltaic pile, to facilitate the first electrodeposition. Unfortunately, Brugnatelli's inventions were repressed by the French Academy of Sciences and did not become used in general industry for the following thirty years.
Silver plate or electroplate is formed when a thin layer of pure or sterling silver is deposited electrolytically on the surface of a base metal. By 1839, scientists in Britain and Russia had independently devised metal deposition processes similar to Brugnatelli's for the copper electroplating of printing press plates.
Soon after, John Wright of Birmingham, England, discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable electrolyte for gold and silver electroplating.
Wright's associates, George Elkington and Henry Elkington were awarded the first patents for electroplating in 1840. These two then founded the electroplating industry in Birmingham England from where it spread around the world.
Common base metals include copper, brass, nickel silver - an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel - and Britannia metal - a tin alloy with 5-10% antimony.
Electroplated materials are often stamped EPNS for electroplated nickel or silver, or EPBM for electroplated Britannia metal.

	T. BEARDMORE Birmingham Active c. 1890
	ALBERT J. BEARDSHAW & CO BEARDSHAW & CO Sheffield Active at 12 Mulberry St (1863-1866) and 32-35 Victoria St. Sheffield (1867-1951), trading as Beardshaw & Co from 1876
	WILLIAM HENRY BEAUMONT & CO Sheffield Active at 1 Gell St, Sheffield (1881-1886)
	JOHN BEDNAL & CO Sheffield A business of John Bednal of Sheffield and James Wilton of Liverpool (Bednall John & Co. Eyre Lane, Sheffield -Sheffield spring knife cutler) created in the 1850s. The partnership was dissolved in 1864. Afterwards, Bednal continued in business on his own account, describing himself in 1871 as a "manufacturer" (25 Change Alley, Sheffield)
	WALTER BELK & SON Sheffield Active a Kingsley Works, Young St, Sheffield (1915-1931). The firm used the trade mark KINGSLEY PLATE and was transformed into a Ltd in 1923
	JONATHAN BELL JONATHAN BELL & SONS Sheffield Active at 85 Montague St, Sheffield
	BENETFINK & CO London Benetfink is a retailer's mark. Benetfink & Co was an optical company based at 85-90 and 107-108 Cheapside, London. The firm was active using the names Ben & Jones (1845-1851), Benetfink & Co (1852-1861), Benetfink & Fox and, again, Benetfink & Company in the 1890s

	BENNETT (1907) LTD London The wholesale business J.B. Bennett & Co Ltd was founded in London in 1907 by John Baker Bennett. In 1908 the firm, described as manufacturing jewellers, changed its name to Bennett (1907) Ltd but was forced into voluntary liquidation in 1909 and the goodwill and the stock-in-trade were acquired by Fredericks Ltd. A sterling silver hallmark (SIR J.B.Ltd) was entered in c. 1932 in the London Assay Office by Sir John Bennett Ltd. Presumably the trade mark "Sir John Bennett" was used by retailer shops in the UK and, possibly, in Sydney (Australia).
	BENNETT & HERON LTD Sheffield possibly a retailer
	JAMES WILLIAM BENSON LTD London The firm was active as Benson Brothers (1847-1855), J.W. Benson (1855-1897) and J.W. Benson Ltd from 1897. In late 20th century the firm was a subsidiary of Mappin & Webb Ltd.
	BIDDLE & COLLINWOOD Birmingham c. 1875
	JOHN BIGGIN JOHN BIGGIN & CO LTD Sheffield Specialised in measures and handles at 12 Mulberry St, Sheffield. The firm used the trade mark APEX
	BIRMINGHAM GUILD OF HANDICRAFTS LTD Birmingham Formed in 1895 by Arthur Dixon and about 20 craftsman with the aim to reinstate handcraftmanship in Birmingham. The Guild was closely associated with the city's trade schools. The Guild amalgamated in 1910 with E & R. Gittings and merged in 1919 c. with Hart, Son, Peard & Co
	BIRMINGHAM HANDICRAFTS LTD Birmingham possibly a mark of Birmingham Guild of Handicrafts
	BIRMINGHAM SILVER PLATE LTD Birmingham possibly a group association of Mappin & Webb, Walker & Hall and Elkington (c. 1964)
	GEORGE BISHOP & SONS Sheffield Active at 216 Rockingham St. (1894-1913) and 158-164 Rockingham Lane (1914-1940)
	THOMAS HENRY BLAKE Sheffield 1887-1911 at 36 Holly Street (1887-1900) and later at Carver Lane. Blake was formerly partner in Bradley & Blake
	SOLOMON BLANCKENSEE & SON LTD Birmingham The firm was founded in Bristol in 1826. In 1863 it moved to Great Charles Street, Birmingham. Blanckensee & Son was the partnership of Solomon and Abraham Solomon Blanckensee
	ALBERT COWLEY BLOXHAM A.C. BLOXHAM LTD London Active in his showroom at 114, 115 Holborn, (since 1905) and as manufacturer at 6, 8 Roseberg Avenue, London (1912). The firm changed to A.C. Bloxham Ltd in 1919.
	EDWIN BLYDE & CO EDWIN BLYDE & CO LTD Sheffield 216 Rockingham St, 1872-1878 Charleston Works, 32 Lambert St, 1879-1901 Orange St, 1902-1910. The firm became Ltd in 1910. Active 1872-1940

E.P.N.S. (Electroplated Nickel Silver) and EPBM (Electroplated Britannia Metal) are the most common names attributed to silver plate items. But many other names are used for silver plate:
EPWM - Electroplate on White Metal, EPC - Electroplate on Copper, Argentium, Argentine Plate, Argentum, Ascetic, Austrian Silver, Brazilian Silver, Buxbridge, Electrum, Encore, Exquisite, Insignia Plate, Nevada Silver, Norwegian Silver, Pelican Silver, Potosi Silver, Silverite, Sonora Silver, Spur Silver, Stainless Nickel, Stainless Nickel Silver, Venetian Silver, W.M White Metal,....