Silver Spoon Antiques

A lovely two-handled cup by Bassé (Source: Bonhams Australia) Not one of the big names of Adelaide silversmithing, I think Frederick Bassé is underrated! His larger pieces show an elegant simplicity. Both a Jeweller and a Silversmith, Bassé produced pieces from the early 1880s until his death in 1913. His firm continued under his widow, trading as F. Bassé and Co until around 1923. An example of Bassé's hallmarks A plain but heavy silver box by Bassé

A nice silver spoon turned up recently on a trip to regional NSW.  The dealer wasn't sure if it was silver, indeed the hallmarks were so small, I couldn't decipher them either.  But what did stand out was the impressive Celtic design to the spoon and the marks I could read that said 'AR' and 'IONA'.  I remembered reading a little somewhere about a silversmith, Alexander Richie, working on the Scottish island.  So I purchased the spoon (along with a few other pieces of silver) for a good price. A Jam Spoon by Alexander Richie of Iona, Scotland It turned out this spoon was indeed silver and had been hallmarked in Glasgow in 1931. Hallmarks and Engraving of Richie Spoon Alexander Richie, along with his wife, Euphemia, began making silverware and jewellery (as well as wood and other metal work) at the end of the nineteenth century.  He sent items from Iona to both Glasgow and Chester to be hallmarked.  Most of his pieces have the Celtic or Viking influe

Silver from the Colonies... The British Empire sprung from overseas possessions and trading posts set-up by England from the end of the 16th century.  Although it was in the early 20th century that it was at its peak, it began being referred to as the British Empire in the nineteenth century.   A map showing the British Empire in 1886 Although the bulk of sterling silver items were made in the United Kingdom and exported to the colonies, wherever there were significant populations, gold and silversmiths were there working.  Items produced by these local silversmiths are known as 'British Colonial Silver'.   The most common (and most researched) places that British colonial silver will turn up from are India, Canada, South Africa and Australia.  Each of these have some great reference books available (let me know if you are interested in any of these, as I often have copies for sale).   An impressive piece made by Wendt, Australia (Image: Lawsons Auctio