HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION
WITH THE ADDITION OF SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS
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| BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MARKS: F& - FD |
(click on the photo to enlarge image)
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F.D Frances Douglas, she was the wife of Archibald, who died young
(1837), and the mother of Archibald John ( AJD 1864) and Samuel - all of them were silversmiths. London 1838 hallmark |
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FE Frederick Elkington (possibly),
information reported on a book from the Sheffield Library, written by Jacqueline Richardson, the librarian, in 1997 (courtesy Lloyd
Prator/ASCAS) Sheffield 1883 hallmark |
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FH gothic into a heart The Portland Co Ltd -Francis Higgins III- , The firm was founded by Harry Emanuel, retailer goldsmith of Hanover Square, to capitalize a patent for the machine-production of spoons and forks. Francis Higgins acted as manager from 1859 to 1868 London 1861 hallmark |
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F.W into a lozenge Frederick Wich & Co, Founded by Frederick Wich (native of Nuremberg, Germany). Became Frederick Wich & Co in the 1890s. In 1905 the firm had its showroom and works at 79 Great Portland Street, London London 1911 hallmark
Birmingham 1911 hallmark The firm retailed silver made by other firms. Both marks are stamped over another silversmith's mark |
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HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER -
MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION
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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
Lion's passant guardant or Britannia or lion's head erased certifiying the silver's quality
Maker's mark, identifying the silversmith presenting the piece to the assay office
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
A further mark was used in the period 1784 - 1890:
Sovereign head ('duty mark'), certifying the payment of duty
work in progress on this page - your help, corrections and suggestions will be greatly appreciated -
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