Continental Silver Cutlery Set and Utensils

Three Continental silver pate knives, a strainer and spoon, the three Fontana Solingen knives with scrolled silver handles, an embossed tea strainer and a spoon; the knives hallmarked 800. Total weight 144gr. Length 6.50 in. (knife) and smaller

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Hallmarks - A mark stamped on articles of precious metals in Britain, since the 14th century, certifying their purity. It derives its name from the Guild Hall of the Goldsmiths' Company, who recieved its Charter in 1327 giving it the power to assay (test the purity) and mark articles of gold and silver.

The hallmark will consist of several marks, including the:

- silver standard mark, indicating the purity of the metal. Sterling silver is .925 pure silver.

- the city mark indicating the city in which it was assayed eg London, Birmingham, York etc.

- the date mark, usually a letter of the alphabet in a particular font and case,

- a duty mark, indicating whether duty had been paid to the crown, and only in use from 1784 to 1890

The piece may include an additional mark, the maker's mark, although not forming part of the hallmark, will be located in the vicinity of the hallmarks.

Sometimes silver plated items will bear faux hallmarks, often confusing those not familiar with silver markings.
Embossed / Repousse - Embossing, also known as repousse, is the technique of decorating metal with raised designs, by pressing or beating out the design from the reverse side of the object.It is the opposite of chasing, where the decoration is applied from the front. An embossed or repoussed object may have chasing applied to finish off the design.
Marrow Spoon - A spoon with a long handle and a narrow scoop shaped bowl, used to scoop and eat marrow from the hollow centre of roasted bones. Some marrow scoops are double ended with a different shaped bowl at each end.

This item has been included into following indexes: