A SMALL COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE SILVER
AND OBJECTS OF VERTU
THE WHAT IS? SILVER DICTIONARY

PSEUDO HALLMARKS ON BRITISH SILVERPLATE

There was no legal requirement to mark electroplated goods and any letter, symbol or number punched in silverplate wares is part of the individual trademark used by manufacturers to customize their own production.
Silverplate was used by lower classes as an affordable substitute of sterling silver and UK makers, to gratify the ambition of their customers, often adopted punches composed of a sequence of symbols and letters similar to that used by Assay Offices for sterling silver hallmarking.
To prevent abuses and to avoid confusion, the 'crown' symbol in silver plate wares was banned in 1896, reserving its use to sterling silver hallmarked by Sheffield Assay Office.
However, the use of pseudo hallmarks was a common practice in the Victorian era and most UK manufacturers 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.
Even the sequence indicating EPNS (Electro Plated Nickel Silver) or EPBM (Electro Plated Britannia Metal) was often made in manner to mislead an inexperienced observer.
The adoption of initials, instead of manufacturer's name, has had the consequence that many UK trade marks are still now unidentified

a series of symbols assembled to compose a pseudo hallmark a series of symbols assembled to compose a pseudo hallmark

|THE STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO SILVERPLATE MARKS|    |UK FIGURAL TRADE MARKS|    |ALPHABETIC SYMBOLS|    |CROWN MARK ON STERLING SILVER AND SILVERPLATE| |UNIDENTIFIED SILVERPLATE MARKS|




pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark



pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark
pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark pseudo silverplate mark



Elkington & Co Silverplate mark, date 1887 Elkington & Co Silverplate mark, date 1904

The use of the 'crown' in silverplate ware was forbidden in c.1896. Elkington & Co was obliged to modify its silverplate trademark eliminating the 'crown'.
(left) Elkington 1887 trade mark with 'crown' - (right) Elkington 1904 trade mark (crown deleted)


SILVERPLATE TRADEMARKS vs STERLING SILVER HALLMARKS



Silverplate trademark of George Bowen & Son
Sterling silver hallmark, Sheffield Assay Office, date 1850, maker Martin Bros & Co and Queen Victoria Duty mark

(above) Silverplate trademark of George Bowen & Son
(below) Sterling silver hallmark, Sheffield Assay Office, date 1850, maker Martin Bros & Co and Queen Victoria Duty mark



Silverplate trademark of Thomas Bradbury & Sons Sterling silver hallmark, Sheffield Assay Office, date 1861, maker Roberts & Belk and Queen Victoria Duty mark

(left) Silverplate trademark of Thomas Bradbury & Sons
(right) Sterling silver hallmark, Sheffield Assay Office, date 1861, maker Roberts & Belk and Queen Victoria Duty mark




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