Silver & Metalware

Silver is the easiest material in the shop to date. A hallmarked piece of British sterling names its assay office, its year and usually its maker, which is why Documented lands on these cards more readily than on most. American coin and sterling silver tend to carry a maker's stamp and sometimes a pattern name, and both can be run down in the trade references.

Plate and base metal are a different job. Electroplate, brass, pewter and copper rarely carry a date, so we read wear, construction and whatever marks are there. A plated piece with the copper showing through at the high points is described that way. Nothing is polished back to new before it is photographed. What you see is what arrives.

We look for metalware with a use you can name. A snuffbox, a chatelaine, a candle snuffer, a pair of sugar tongs. An object with a job tells a better story on the card than ornament for its own sake, and it tends to have been kept for the same reason.

Marks are photographed close enough to read. Ships anywhere in the United States, and the card comes in the box.