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British Colonial Silver - Corfu

Corfu is one of the Greek Ionian islands. Although not the largest island geographically, it has been the one with the largest population for centuries. The British began to occupy the Ionian Islands after the defeat of Napoleon and reached Corfu in 1815. The period of English rule was generally a prosperous period for Corfu because the Greek language became official, new roads were built, the water supply system was improved and the first Greek University was founded in 1824. Although Corfu was never under the control of the Ottoman Empire, its inhabitants helped the rest of Greece financially during the Greek Revolution. On the 21st of May, 1864, the Ionian Islands were donated by the British to the new King of Greece, George I, annexed to the modern Greek state and have been an official part of it ever since.

There hasn't been a lot of published research on the silver production of that period, but there are various attributed marks. These marks all include a ship with initials, thought to be the assay mark, and a maker's mark. These are most often seen with two of each mark. A number of pieces of flatware are known, but also significant holloware including a teapot and a toast rack. This shows there were a number of competent silversmiths working there under British rule. 

Ship (assay) marks recorded

AK

AC (or AG)

Maker's marks recorded

BI

NA

IZ

AS

I*H or T*H ?

DF (on jewellery)



Example of ship hallmark of AG, maker's mark AS




Example of ship hallmark AK, maker's mark IZ




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