WMF is a German company specialising in cooking, drinking and dining wares. The firm was formed in 1853 as Straub & Schweizer producing silver plated serving and tableware in Geislingen. They won a Gold Medal at the International Exhibition in London in 1862 and they opened their first retail outlet in Berlin in 1868. By […]
William Peaston was a London based goldsmith who entered his first mark as a largeworker in 1746. He went into partnership with Robert Peaston in 1756 and they entered a second mark together. The partnership appears to have lasted until 1763. William is recorded as working at St. Martin’s Le Grande between 1745 and 1760 […]
William Ker Reid, was a Newcastle based silversmith who took over his father Christian Ker’s business (founded in 1788) with his brothers (David and Christian) in 1834. The family was closely allied with the Barnard family, another great silversmith clan in Newcastle as William Ker and David married Mary and Elizabeth Barnard, daughters of Edward […]
William Hutton & Sons – were manufacturing silversmiths founded in 1800 in Birmingham transferring to Sheffield in 1832. William Hutton established the firm and with the move to Sheffield where they also became platers having licensed the electroplating technique from Elkingtons. This gave them much early success. William’s son William Carr Hutton continued the business […]
William Comyns were a London based manufacturing silversmiths who traded from around 1858 until the 1930s. The firm was founded by William Comyns when he bought the business of Robert Tagg (founded in 1730) around 1858 and entered his first mark from the original Robert Tagg premises in Soho, London. The business expanded rapidly and […]
Wang Hing was a manufacturer and retailer of top quality Chinese silver made for export from around 1890. The company counted Tiffany’s, various Indian Maharajas and other upper class and notable people amongst its clients. Between 1875 and 1925 it had retail premises in Hong Kong and also opened an outlet in Guangzhou (Canton) in […]
Walker & Hall were Sheffield based silversmiths making their fortune with electroplating, cutlery and silver from the mid 19th Century until they closed in 1971. The company started with a Britannia metalworker, John Harrison who took the first licence in Sheffield from Elkingtons to make electroplated wares. He sent George Walker to Birmingham to learn […]
Tiffany & Co is a world famous jewellery designers and retailers based in New York City with stores all over the world. Founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young, it started out as a ‘stationery and fancy goods emporium’. They originally operated as Tiffany, Young and Ellis but the name was shortened […]
Thomas Johnson I was a well known London based silversmith working from Dyers Building in Holborn, London. He registered his first mark in January in 1850. His specialism was in smaller silver wares such as jars,spoons, boxes and travelling cases which needed attention to fine detail.
Thomas Farren was a London based silversmith operating between 1707 and 1742. His apprenticeship started in 1695 with John Denny and he got his freedom in 1707 and registered his first mark that same year as a largeworker in ‘Sweeting Lane’. He went on to register further marks in 1720 and 1739. His name also […]