Sheffield? Interesting old find - ID?

[Just Tom.]

I found this diminutive lady’s pen knife in a bag of old silver jewelry that my [English] mother kept in a safe deposit box. She inherited most of it, I believe, from her mother and from her (great?) aunt. It is also possible she picked it up herself at some point, or maybe inherited it from my dad’s mother, but I am guessing it is of Sheffield origin, based on the blade stampings. I found a similar item on Etsy described as a fruit knife from 1911, with mother of pearl handle and solid silver (!) blade. I am hoping Jack Black can give me info about the maker and approximate date of manufacture.

 

[screened porch]

It looks like a fruit knife with a sterling silver blade to me. I think JF will be the maker, and i the date, and one of the other marks will be where the silver was assayed, or something like that.
I must have googled sterling hallmarks for some reason at some time.
The crown is for Sheffield's assay office.

 

[screened porch]

The lion passant is sterling.
jf with the one dot in the rounded cartouche is James Fenton of Birmingham, 1894-1923.
i is 1901(?)

 

[Just Tom.]

The lion passant is sterling.
jf with the one dot in the rounded cartouche is James Fenton of Birmingham, 1894-1923.
i is 1901(?)

Thanks for that! I had no idea sterling hallmarks were a thing until you told me just now - shows you just how kulchured I am…

If that is indeed an “i” with a little tail on it, then I agree that crown-lion-i indicates 1901. Not sure how you found the maker so fast, but I guess you gave me something to read up on .

 

[danno50]

Very nice fruit knife. Here a a link to one of the pages of English silver hallmarks

English silver marks: marks and hallmarks of Sheffield sterling silver

Sheffield silver marks: marks and hallmarks of Sheffield silver including date letters chart and symbols of Assay Offices of other towns as London, Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Chester, Glasgow: a widely illustrated directory of 3000 full sets of silver hallmarks of British makers with...

www.silvercollection.it

 

[lithicus]

Thanks for that! I had no idea sterling hallmarks were a thing until you told me just now - shows you just how kulchured I am…

If that is indeed an “i” with a little tail on it, then I agree that crown-lion-i indicates 1901. Not sure how you found the maker so fast, but I guess you gave me something to read up on .

I only recently found out about these hallmarks as well. Unrelated to knives, but related to your knife in the hallmark sense, I picked up pipe tobacco a little over a year ago. And, that inadvertently led me to nasal snuff. Which led to snuff boxes, of which the best are made of pure silver as they don't retain scent. Ari Norman was somewhat famous for his modern silver snuff boxes. He was the first and only silversmith to win the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement! Anyway, wanting to ensure I was getting a genuine product and not a knockoff, I learned about hallmarks and managed to find an Ari Norman silver snuffbox that was from my birth year in the process.

The history of hallmarks is some really cool stuff! And I immediately recognized the markings on your knife as being silver hallmarks from england. So cool you can determine makers, origin, and date from these things. And the fact that it was basically created as a form of quality control is amazing. Kind of reminds me of bottled in bond whiskey. Those brits knew what they were doing!

Very cool knife!!

 

[Jack Black]

I found this diminutive lady’s pen knife in a bag of old silver jewelry that my [English] mother kept in a safe deposit box. She inherited most of it, I believe, from her mother and from her (great?) aunt. It is also possible she picked it up herself at some point, or maybe inherited it from my dad’s mother, but I am guessing it is of Sheffield origin, based on the blade stampings. I found a similar item on Etsy described as a fruit knife from 1911, with mother of pearl handle and solid silver (!) blade. I am hoping Jack Black can give me info about the maker and approximate date of manufacture.

That's a lovely silver fruit knife Sorry I was out yesterday, but you seem to have all the information you need It's a shame that not all old knives can be identified in a similar convenient way I don't collect Fruit Knives, but pick them up occassionally





[url=https://postimg.cc/LYst5KTV]

 

[Just Tom.]

That's a lovely silver fruit knife

Thanks, Jack

 

[Will Power]

Fruit knives with Sterling silver blades were a popular present from c1870s until the early c20th with the advent of stainless steels for kitchen purposes. Silver is hygienic but I wouldn't fancy trying to cut a large crisp apple with it, too soft! Fruit knives, vesta cases, card cases, watch-chains, snuff boxes in sterling were all popular presents and many were intricate and attractive items.

British hallmarking (England, Scotland, Ireland) has very clear markings as to purity, assay office-the majority being in England- date stamp and a bit more complicated , maker's mark. Sterling silver must reach a purity of .925 or 92.5% (Lion passant stamp) during the c19th there was also a higher grade as well called Britannia silver of .958 or 95.8% minimum silver, this carried a Britannia stamp. The monarch's head, mostly Victoria's, but also Geo.IV and William IV appeared on some items as a stamp. As shown already, Hallmark charts can be found online and provided the marks are in good condition and not worn down it is possible to ascertain the exact year of assaying by the date letter.
Interestingly, as Sterling silver has always been costly, manufacturers sought to find cheaper alternatives. What is now known as Old Sheffield Plate emerged in the mid c18th and soon became a popular cheaper alternative, it is basically a rolled layer of silver over a copper core. An advanced and complex process which was superceded by Electro Plated Nickel Silver or EPNS in mid c19th where an electric process plates items with silver, faster & cheaper that OSP. Both Old Sheffield Plate and EPNS had maker's marks and some EPNS marks were made to look rather like hallmarks to gull the unaware....

Here's a deep struck hallmark from Dublin, maker Charles Marsh with Britannia silver purity mark, Dublin mark (Irish harp) and Geo. IV head from 1830 on a piece of tableware. Spoons, serving forks, ladles, knife handles were all solid silver in rich homes. Shown here with a contemporary French knife, noteworthy that many French maker's and artisans still stamp their blades