Essex Jewelry and Antiques
1875 English Victorian Sterling Silver 24pc Fish Set Hand Engraved Fish Design
Regular price
$1,951.00
Presented is an excellent antique English Victorian sterling silver fish set. The set is 24 pieces total, twelve fish knives and twelve forks. This set was made by Thomas Smily and dates to 1875. The handles are all done in a lovely classical King or Kings pattern, while the blades of the knives and the bodies of the forks are wonderfully hand engraved with a scene of two fish, with foliate scrollwork flourishes against a textured background on the knives where there's more room for decoration. The quality of the engraving is exceptional. The blades of the knives and the tines of the forks are solid sterling silver, not silverplate, and the handles are sterling silver but hollow, not weighted-- all of the weight is sterling silver. Please note that one of the knives has a replaced blade, which is still sterling silver but with a different engraved design.
Each piece is hallmarked with the lion passant for sterling silver, the leopard's head for the city of London, the date letter U for 1875 the duty stamp of Queen Victoria's profile, and the maker's mark TS for Thomas Smily, EXCEPT the one knife with a different design, which is hallmarked with the lion passant, the leopard's head, the date letter C for 1898 and the maker's mark for Daniel & John Wellby.
This set is in excellent overall condition. Some pieces have a little bit of rattle inside the handle, but it is faint, and the handles themselves are not loose. The details of the pattern are nice and crisp. No splits, no dents, no monograms, no monogram removals, and no repairs.
Each fork is about 7 1/2 inches long.
Each knife is about 8 7/8 inches long.
The total weight for the set is 1270 grams or 44.8 ounces. -jm
Each piece is hallmarked with the lion passant for sterling silver, the leopard's head for the city of London, the date letter U for 1875 the duty stamp of Queen Victoria's profile, and the maker's mark TS for Thomas Smily, EXCEPT the one knife with a different design, which is hallmarked with the lion passant, the leopard's head, the date letter C for 1898 and the maker's mark for Daniel & John Wellby.
This set is in excellent overall condition. Some pieces have a little bit of rattle inside the handle, but it is faint, and the handles themselves are not loose. The details of the pattern are nice and crisp. No splits, no dents, no monograms, no monogram removals, and no repairs.
Each fork is about 7 1/2 inches long.
Each knife is about 8 7/8 inches long.
The total weight for the set is 1270 grams or 44.8 ounces. -jm