THE DIRECTORY OF CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVERSMITHS
MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVER
created by Giorgio B. owner of
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CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVERSMITHS - ALPHABETICAL LISTING: UNIDENTIFIED MAKERS
A - F G - H I - P Q - Z unidentified makers
(click on the photo to enlarge image)
NAME
MARK
MARK IMAGE
 		INFORMATION
UNIDENTIFIED
 
AS
 
  
possibly Jersey c. 1710
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
CF
 
  
Jersey c. 1720
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
CJ
 
 CJ mark, unidentified 18th c. Channel Islands silversmith
Channel Islands c. 1790
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
CR
 
  
end 17th
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
E.D
 
 E.D mark, unidentified 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1750
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
FP
 
  
Jersey end 18th c.
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
GB
 
  
Jersey c. 1760
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
GD
 
  
Guernsey c. 1710
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
GM
 
 GM mark, unidentified c. 1750/1812 Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1750/1812
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
GS crown and fleur de lys
 
 GS crowned mark, unidentified 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1730/1779
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
HM
 
  
possibly Jersey c. 1700
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
H.M
 
 H.M mark, unidentified c. 1790 Guernsey silversmith
Guernsey c. 1790
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
HS
 
  
Guernsey c. 1760
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
IA
 
  
Jersey 1685/1744
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
IA crowned
 
 IA crowned mark, unidentified 18th c. Guernsey silversmith
Guernsey c. 1753/1807
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
ID inside a shield
 
 ID inside a shield mark
mark present on a spoon
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
I.D
 
 I.D mark, unidentified late 18th c. Guernsey silversmith
Guernsey c. 1781/1788
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
IH
 
 IH crowned mark, unidentified 18th c. Guernsey silversmith
Guernsey c. 1725/1785
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
IL crowned
 
 IL crowned mark, unidentified 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1770
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
IP
 
  
Jersey beginning 18th c.
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
IS
 
  
Guernsey c. 1710/1720
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
JC
 
 JC mark, unidentified late 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1780/1790
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
L.C crowned
 
 L.C crowned mark, unidentified 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1760/1800
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
LP crowned
 
  
Jersey c. 1710
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
LP
 
  
Jersey c. 1720
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
LS
 
  
Jersey c. 1710
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
M
 
  
Jersey c. 1780
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
P.B crowned
 
 P.B crowned mark, unidentified 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1730/1750
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
PD crowned
 
 PD crowned mark, unidentified 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1740
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
P.N
 
 P.N mark, unidentified 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Guernsey c. 1750
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
PP
 
  
Jersey 18th c.
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
R.B crowned
 
 R.B crowned mark, unidentified late 17th c. Jersey and Guernsey silversmith
Jersey and Guernsey c. 1698
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
SH
 
  
Guernsey c. 1760
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
SO
 
  
Guernsey c. 1710
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
SR
 
  
Guernsey c. 1790
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
T.B
 
 T.B mark, unidentified mid 17th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1650/1660
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
TC
 
 TC mark, unidentified 18th c. Jersey silversmith
Jersey c. 1740
 
UNIDENTIFIED
 
TM
 
  
Guernsey c. 1780/1790
 
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 -