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"CROWN" MARK
ON STERLING SILVER AND SILVERPLATE
From the very beginning the platers tried to make their wares resemble silver as closely as possible. It did no harm if the marks on them also looked rather like those on silver.
Since the early times Old Sheffield Plate presents initials and symbols in the same style and on the same places as did the silversmiths, sometimes repeating these devices to simulate the stamp of the assay
office, the lion and the maker's mark.
When in 1773 the silversmiths of Sheffield and Birmingham obtained to establish assay offices for silverwork in both towns, the "crown" symbol was chosen to identify Sheffield Assay Office
(the "anchor" was chosen for Birmingham).
One of the objective of the established Assay Office in Sheffield was to obtain some degree of control over the platers as the Parliament Act carried a clause prohibiting the striking of any letter,
or letters, on goods "Made of metal, plated or covered with silver, or upon any metal vessel or other thing made to look like silver: the penalty being a fine of £ 100".
The prohibition, more or less respected by Old Sheffield Plate makers of early 19th century, was largely ignored by electroplated silver makers of the Victorian Age (1837-1901).
The use of pseudo hallmarks was a common practice and most of UK electroplaters adopted trade marks consisting in their initials coupled to '&', 'S' (for Sons or Sheffield), 'EP' (for Electro Plate) and a
profusion of symbols inside outlines of various shape (circles, shields, squares), obtaining a result very similar to that present in sterling silver wares.
One of the preferred symbols was the "crown", used by Sheffield Assay Office on sterling silver wares.
There can be very little doubt that Sheffield electroplaters wanted their plate-mark to look very similar to a Sheffield Assay mark. A practice in which they were certainly not alone as also Birmingham electroplaters took advantage of this practice. Of 17 Sheffield platers using a crown in one form or another, no less than 13 had registered a silver mark at the Sheffield Assay Office. Platers in Birmingham must have thought the crown carried a marketing message too. Of the 15 platers having a crown as part of their plate mark only one had not found it necessary to register a silver mark at an assay office.
The use of the "crown" on silverplate wares was tolerated for about 50 years, until, in c. 1895, a new intervention of the authorities reaffirmed the prohibition of the use of the crown
in silverplate as it was seen as an imitation of the Sheffield silver mark.
As a result of this intervention many electroplaters changed their marks deleting the crown symbol.
In this page is illustrated a selection of trade marks used by electroplaters "before" and "after" the 1895.
Actually, some of these marks were modified before this date (change of the company name, 'modernization' of trade mark layout, changeover to Limited Liability Company, etc.) but most of them have been a direct
consequence of the threat of legal action by Sheffield Assay Office.
|THE STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO SILVERPLATE MARKS|
|UK FIGURAL TRADE MARKS|
|ALPHABETIC SYMBOLS|
|SILVERPLATE PSEUDO HALLMARKS|
TRADE NAMES ON BRITISH SILVERPLATE
|UNIDENTIFIED SILVERPLATE MARKS|
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THE "CROWN" OF SHEFFIELD ASSAY OFFICE
The Sheffield Assay Office was established in 1773 and the symbol of its mark was a "crown". It was applied with various ranges of punches in proportion to the sizes of the objects on
which they were stroked.
From the year 1815 to 1819 the crown is consistently found stamped upside down. The most probable explanation of this practice was to differentiate more clearly between letters that
were being used at this period and those struck in earlier years (example letter X in date letters in the years 1797 and 1817).
An innovation entirely different from the procedures of other offices was the method adopted, dating from the year 1780 until 1853, of stamping the mark of origin and date letter combined in one punch.
Probably designed for striking on small articles where space was limited, the punches came eventually to be used on all classes of sterling silver wares.
THE "CROWN" ON SILVERPLATE TRADE MARKS : "BEFORE AND AFTER"
In this page is illustrated a selection of trade marks used by electroplaters "before" and "after" the 1895.
Actually, some of these marks were modified before this date (change of the company name, 'modernisation' of trade mark layout, changeover to Limited Liability Company, etc.) but most of them
have been a direct consequence of the authorities' intervention.
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Alfred Browett - Birmingham: crown replaced with a 'fleur de lys' (below) |
Buxton & Co - Sheffield: crown deleted from EP. Added a "X" symbol (below) |
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John Clarke & Sons - Sheffield: crown deleted and 'modernised' layout changing gothic characters (below) |
Culf & Kay - Sheffield: crown and symbol replaced with EP (below) |
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Daniel & Arter - Birmingham: both crowns deleted (below) |
James Dixon & Sons - Sheffield: crown and A1 replaced with PNS (below) |
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Elkington & Co - Sheffield: crown deleted (below) |
Evans & Matthews - Birmingham: crown replaced with another symbol (below) |
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Fattorini & Sons - Bradford: crown deleted (below) |
Fenton Russel & Co Ltd - Edinburgh: crown deleted and 'modernised' layout changing gothic characters (below). Note the delay of the change of
layout as the company became Ltd in 1900 |
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Thomas Prime - Birmingham: both crowns replaced with other symbol/letter (below) |
Thomas Latham & Ernest Morton - Birmingham: crown replaced with another symbol (below) |
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Levesley Brothers - Sheffield: crown replaced with an A (below) |
William Marples - Sheffield (above)
William Marples & Sons - Sheffield: crown replaced with an & (below) |
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Martin Hall & Co - Sheffield: crown deleted and 'modernised' layout changing gothic characters (below) |
William Padley & Son - Sheffield: crown replaced with a 'hand' (below) |
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John Round & Son - Sheffield: crown replaced with a 'globe' (below) |
William Page & Co - Birmingham: crown replaced with another symbol (below) |
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