Silver Spoon Antiques

 We haven't been able to find much information on artist and silversmith Catherine L Charles.  She exhibited a self-portrait (pictured below) at the Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, 1928. She exhibited from 1928-37 in Edinburgh, Scotland and was quite active until at least 1946. At the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, she exhibited at least eight pieces and one other was shown at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Other examples by her include a winter mill scene and a still life of a vase with roses She was producing sterling silverware in the Arts and Crafts style in Scotland in the 1940s. A number of examples of her work can be found. Her maker's mark is 'CLC'. We have a number of pieces by her currently in stock.  A sterling butter fork by CL Charles Catherine's maker's mark and hallmarks for Edinburgh 1944 PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST, 1928.  (Courtesy Mellors and Kirks Auction via Invaluable)

Antique Scottish Provincial silver is one of the most interesting and confusing areas of silver collecting. There were numerous towns that were producing silver in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There were no regulations governing these towns, so each town (or silversmith) came up with their own marks. These were often related to town symbols or coat of arms. It is often the question of rarity that wildly affects the value for these pieces of silver. Below is a table of suggested rarity: Scarce Rare Very Rare Aberdeen Arbroath Cupar Dumfries Ballater Ellon Dundee Banff Fochabers Glasgow (pre-Assay office) Canongate Forres Inverness Elgin Leith Perth Greenock Nairn Iona Peterhead Montrose St. Andrews Paisley Stonehaven Tain Wick This list is published by antiquesilverspoons.co.uk and is based on the research of Richard Turner (who's book, A Directory of Scottish Provincial Silversmiths and Their Ma...

Some of the purchases from today's auction Today was spent hunting for bargains at an auction in New Zealand. It seems there were plenty of good buys in the royal doulton items, but the sterling silver this time around was generally too high for a dealer.  Luckily I'm a collector too so still managed to pick up a few items. The highlights include an Omar Ramsden ladle and a pair of Scottish Provincial (probably Perth) sugar tongs. Stay tuned for some further descriptions and info. :-) Scottish Provincial Sugar Tongs Omar Ramsden Ladle

Welcome to my blog! Here you see an interesting piece of antique sterling silver flatware.  This little item was actually produced in reasonable quantities and can still be found at quite good prices (I see a possible collection!).  The earliest examples come from the late eighteenth century and have ivory handles, but by the late regency period (such as this one), they have a scimitar blade and the same handle as other flatware.   This one is a little more special, because it was made up in Scotland.  It was assayed in Edinburgh in 1835, but the maker, David Gray was actually a Scottish Provincial maker, working in Dumfries.