Help figuring out marking on British serving piece

[bailingtheboat]

I know absolutely nothing about silver, but I am trying to learn. My mom inherited a set of silver serving pieces from her mom, who got them from my great grandma, who came from England when she was either 16 or 18 I believe. All I know is that the box that my grandma put the pieces in, she wrote 1896 on it.

So I don’t know what the marks mean. By googling for hours, I figured out EP means electro plated, but that’s about it.

The first picture is a close up of the piece from the back. It looks gold, but really I didn’t know how to photograph silver correctly.

The second picture is the knife itself (if that’s what it is)

I’m sorry the pictures aren’t great. I read the sticky on how to photograph silver after my dad had already left to take the set home to my mome

[silvermakersmarks]

Yes, EP means electroplate, so this is not silver. Your picture of the mark shows the main lettering upside down. This reads T B & S S and stands for the manufacturer, Thomas Bradbury & Sons of Sheffield. Dating electroplate is difficult so I cannot get much closer than the latter half of the 19th century.

As to what it actually is, you do not give any sizes, but if it is around 8 inches long or larger then it is a fish serving knife. It should have a companion fork with more than the usual complement of tines.