Seriously, where are they? Spoons in Britannia silver are relatively easy to find, but I have not had the same experience with forks. Am I not looking hard enough? Are Britannia-standard forks that rare? Thus far, I own a set of two from 1711 by Andrew Archer. They are a really nice pair of forks, but I need more.
 |
| Pair of forks, London, 1711, Andrew Archer |
I have one other three-pronged fork, but the hallmarks are so worn it is impossible to tell if it is Britannia-standard. My suspicion is that it is not. The fork, however, is very heavy and chunky, and I like the coat of arms to the front. The reverse of the terminal is engraved with a crest that was used by the Austen family, which I mentioned in an earlier post, but I harbor no illusions that this fork belonged to Jane Austen's family.
 |
| Silver fork, hallmarks worn |
If any of you has the inside scoop on where to buy Britannia-standard forks that are in good condition and have good hallmarks, would you please let me know? Thanks!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou may have seen over at Aeneas Ryan that we have been trying to identify the earliest Irish silver fork. The current contender dates from the early 1690s and has a very colourful history: http://aeneasryan.blogspot.ie/2013/09/earliest-irish-silver-fork.html
ReplyDeleteAs far as I understand it, forks only came to be used widely used (both in Ireland and in England) in the second half of the 18th century. Earlier examples are very rare and much more difficult to find than spoons from the same period. Irish forks from the 17th century or the first quarter of the 18th century are exceptionally rare.
After collecting Georgian English Silver for 40 years I am now letting others enjoy it. I have some Britannia pieces up for sale on ebay under seller seattle-silver-specialists .
ReplyDeleteI have Britannia table spoons that will go up shortly.
I also have a lovely pair of 1723 London Britannia Dessert Forks made by Jane Lambe - if those interest you. They are in excellent condition with very good hallmarks.