THE DIRECTORY OF CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVERSMITHS
MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVER
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CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVERSMITHS - ALPHABETICAL LISTING: A - F
A - F G - H I - P Q - Z unidentified makers
(click on the photo to enlarge image)
NAME
MARK
MARK IMAGE
 		INFORMATION
ALLEN, J.G.
 

 
  
Guernsey, active 1824/1874
 
ALLPORT, Abraham
 

 
  
Jersey, born 1836, active 1868
 
ALLPORT, Simon.
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1843/1852
 
AMIRAUX, Pierre de la Galaire
 

 
  
Jersey, active end 18th c.
 
AMIRAUX, Pierre II
 
PA

PA crowned
 
 PA mark, Amiraux Pierre II PA crowned mark, Amiraux Pierre II
Jersey, born 1726, died 1808. Active since 1747
 
AMIRAUX, Pierre III
 
PA possibly
 
  
Jersey, born 1779, active since c. 1800. Traded as Amiraux, Le Breton & Co until 1832. Possibly used the mark of his father Pierre II Amiraux
 
ANDERSON, James
 

 
  
Jersey, active c. 1832/1852
 
d'ARGENT, Isaac
 

 
  
Jersey, active c. 1685/1744
 
ARNELL, William
 

 
  
Guernsey, active in 1750s
 
AUBIN, Edward
 

 
  
Jersey, active in 1790s
 
AUBIN, Henri
 

 
  
Jersey, born c. 1676, active since c. 1700
 
AUBIN, Pierre
 

 
  
Jersey
 
BARBEDOR, Robert
 
RB
 
  
Jersey and Guernsey, active end 18th c.
 
le BAYLLYF, Jean
 
IB possibly
 
  
Jersey, born 1616, died 1674, active from c.1640
 
de BEAUVOIR, Pierre
 

 
  
born c. 1584, active since c. 1605
 
BENSA, George
 

 
  
Jersey, born 1823, active since 1845 in partnership with James Smith. Died c. 1890
 
BERTRAM, Francis P.
 

 
  
Jersey, born 1820, active 1850s/1860s
 
BISHOP, Abraham and de JERSEY, Henry
 

 
  
Guernsey, trading since 1804 as Bishop, de Jersey & Co.
 
BISSON, Winter T.
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1890s/1920s
 
le BLANC,
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1840s
 
BLONDELL, Nicholas
 
NBD
 
  
Guernsey, born c. 1699, dead c. 1776, active since 1719
 
BODILLY, Nicholas
 

 
  
Guernsey, active 1820s
 
BOLT, Frederick R.
 

 
  
Guernsey, active c. 1850s/1870s
 
BOUCHER, Pierre
 

 
  
Jersey, active c. 1770
 
BOUTON, Thomas
 
TB
 
  
Jersey, active c. 1770
 
BOWRING, George
 

 
  
Jersey, born 1826, active 1860s/1880s
 
CACHART, Peter Elias
 

 
  
Guernsey, from mid 18th c. active in Pondicherry and Madras, India
 
CALBRIS George
 

 
  
Jersey, born 1817, active 1860s/1870s
 
CARMALT, J
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1850s
 
CARTAULT, Thomas
 
TC
 
  
born 1704, died 1736, active c. 1725
 
CARVER
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1850s
 
CHEVALIER,
 

 
  
Jersey, active end 18th c.
 
COHU, Alfred
 

 
  
Guernsey, active 1850s/1870s
 
COLLENETTE, Mrs M.
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1850s
 
COQUEREL, Thomas
 

 
  
Guernsey, active mid 16th c.
 
CONSTANCE,
 

 
  
Jersey, aactive 1840s
 
COVENTRY, Henry
 

 
  
Guernsey, active 1870s
 
DAMER. John
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1840s/1860s
 
DURELL, Philippe le Vavasseur
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1st half 18th c.
 
DURELL, Thomas le Vavasseur
 

 
  
Jersey, active 2nd half 17th c.
 
DURREL, W.
 

 
  
Jersey, active mid 19th c.
 
EDGAR, Albert E
 
AE
 
  
Jersey, born 1829, established his business in 1874, and bought J Pope Genge in 1899. Out of business c. 1905
 
EDGAR, Alfred E.
 
AE
 
  
Jersey, son of Albert E., in business from 1888 to c. 1905
 
EZEKIEL, Henry
 
HE possibly
 
  
Guernsey, born 1772, active in Guernsey since 1806
 
FARR, George
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1780s
 
la FEUILLE, Abraham
 

 
  
born c. 1702
 
la FEUILLE, Henry
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1690s
 
Le FEUVRE, F.
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1840s
 
Le FORTIER, J.
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1840s
 
FRIEND, W
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1840s/1850s
 
FRYTH, John
 

 
  
goldsmith of London present in Jersey in 1452
 
FURZER
 

 
  
Jersey, active 1880s
 
HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER - MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION
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
THE DIRECTORY OF CAPE SILVERSMITHS A - C D - I J - M N - T U - Z
THE DIRECTORY OF CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVERSMITHS A - F G - H I - P Q - Z unidentified makers
CANADIAN SILVERSMITHS 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
BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS
CHANNEL ISLANDS AND THEIR SILVER - A BRIEF HISTORY
mid 18th century Channel Islands map
The inhabited islands of the Channel Islands are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm (the main islands); Jethou, Brecqhou (Brechou), and Lihou. All of these except Jersey are in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, but the Minquiers, Écréhous, Les Dirouilles and Les Pierres de Lecq (the Paternosters), uninhabited groups of islets, are part of the Bailiwick of Jersey. Burhou and the Casquets lie off Alderney.

The islands were annexed to the Duchy of Normandy in 933. In 1066, William II of Normandy, a vassal to the king of France, invaded and conquered England, becoming William I of England, also known as William the Conqueror.

Since 1204, the loss of the rest of the monarch's lands in mainland Normandy has meant that the Channel Islands have been governed as separate possessions of the Crown.

The legal system of the islands was based on the Norman Grand Coutumier and many aspects of Norman law remain to the present day. Even after Normandy was lost to France and the islands came under the effective control of England, they still managed to maintain their own legal system, customs and privileges, these rights having been confirmed by successive monarchs since the 13th century. The system was however uncodified in Jersey until 1771 and from the 13th century islanders have maintained that such customs and privileges are theirs of right. The most important of these charters of ratification were granted by Edward III in 1341 and by Elizabeth I in 1559.
Large amounts of Channel Islands silver are unmarked in the presumption that there was no reason to mark pieces ordered by a customer to his goldsmith.

The London Goldsmiths' Company had no jurisdiction in the Channel Islands and there being no legal standard of metal in the Channel Islands other than that enacted in Jersey in 1771, the retailer had to take personal responsibility for what he was selling. This is perhaps the reason behind the practice of Channel Island goldsmiths of overstriking the marks of the original makers of the goods with their own.

The maker's mark on existing Channel Islands silver and gold often reflects French influence, for instance in the inclusion of a crown or a fleur de lis. They consists of two or three initials, representing the initial letters of maker's name, as in CWQ, for Charles William Quesnel. Occasionally the third letter represents a preposition, as in TDG, for Thomas de Gruchy; an article as in JLG, for John le Gallais or that of the last name broken up to provide an extra initial, as in FKB, for Francis Kerby (Kirby). This practice seems to derive from the tendency of many Channel Islanders to use three initials, because their last names (of French origin) carried le, la, de, de la, or du. The use of initial marks became obligatory in Jersey in 1771, when the Code des Lois (Code of Laws) was published.

A typical artifact of Channel Islands silver is the "Presentation Cup". These cups, commonly known as christening cups, of a type rarely seen in Britain, present substantial stylistic differences between the designs of the cups of Jersey and Guernsey.
Both cups have two handles, but the Jersey cup is about one and a half inches high and four inches in diameter while the Guernsey cup is approximately two and a half inches high and three inches in diameter with an everted or splayed out top. The Jersey cup is shallow while the Guernsey cup is much deeper.
Occasionally these cups have two set of initials engraved on the bowl and, following the French custom, may have been "marriage cups"
christening or marriage cup: maker PD Jersey



christening or marriage cup: maker Guillaume Henry, Guernsey c. 1760
 
BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY


Old Channel Islands Silver, its Makers and Marks
by Richard H. Mayne,
Print Holding & Investments Ltd, Jersey, 1969


 
 Channel Islands Silver, its Makers and Marks - by Richard H. Mayne
work in progress on this page - your help, corrections and suggestions will be greatly appreciated -