Sheffiled sterling candle sticks - SMP Silver Salon Forums

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Sheffiled sterling candle sticks

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Author	Topic: Sheffiled sterling candle sticks
worldknives Posts: 1 Registered: Feb 2007	posted 02-03-2007 09:54 AM [26-1341] Greetings- I am glad to have found your forum. I am interested in learning as much about silver as I can. I have a special interest in British silver. Also, if anyone has questions about antique knives I have some experience there and would be glad to reciprocate. I have a pair of candle sticks I am researching and I am not having much luck. They are marked Sheffield, England but I could not find anything out about the marks. Anyone have an idea? IP: Logged
vathek Posts: 966 Registered: Jun 99	posted 02-03-2007 12:22 PM These are probably late 19c. Nice look to them, but they are not sterling. The marks are those of a plater which can probably be looked up without difficulty. IP: Logged
tmockait Posts: 963 Registered: Jul 2004	posted 02-03-2007 01:45 PM Welcome to the forum. Although I cannot make out the detail on the marks (try enlarging the image), my first inclination is that they are pseudo-marks on silverplate. English silver made in Sheffield should be marked with a lion passant to indicate sterling (.925 silver), the crown hallmark for Sheffield, and a date letter to indicate when the piece was made. No laws regulated the marking of silverplate, but manufacturers stamped them with marks that imitated without duplicating those for sterling (which would have been illegal) to give them greater appeal. The number stamped beneath the marks is probably a stock number for ordering the candlesticks, which were probably mass-produced. Dating silverplate is very difficult. There are, however, some books on the subject, including Wyler's guide to Victorian Sivlerplate. If you can crop and enlarge a photo of the marks, some one may be able to identify the company that made the candlesticks. Good luck, Tom PS Many people get bummed out to learn that their treasure is not "real" silver. Antique plate items can, however, be very attractive and fun to collect. Nice candlesticks! IP: Logged
Dale Posts: 2132 Registered: Nov 2002	posted 02-04-2007 12:03 AM Hello and welcome to the forum. As a general rule, lighting devices are rarely ever sterling. They require greater strength than silver alone provides. And frequently are produced outside the silver trade's usual makers. Candle sticks seem particularly prone to the museum gift shop syndrome. This is the tendency of museums to take something in their collection and have it made up in plate as a usuable item. Like taking a wall carving or ceramic item and selling silverplate candlesticks based on that item. Could you post a picture of the main body of the stick? It looks somewhat familiar, but not as a candlestick. My other rule of thumb, FWIW, is that lighting tempts people to excess. Processional crucifixes made into floor lamps. Hub caps made into lamp bases. And my all time favorite: a hand carved manure fork made into a chandelier. IP: Logged

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