Spurious items made of some grade of silver, many of them claiming considerable antiquity enter our market with increasing frequency
Indeed there is a factory in China that will reproduce convincing copies of any piece of silver you care to send it for a price.
The first thing to be said about collecting antique or modern domestic silver is don’t be overly reliant on hallmarks. If the marks are British they are almost always reliable unless they have been created outside the UK where they are not only no rules against their use but their use historically has been encouraged locally but not sanctioned or monitored by the British. The US after the the American Independence is an excellent example of mass use of faux marks.
Another classic example was Henry Birks of Montreal getting permission to use London Date letters on silver manufactured in Canada and where the only guarantee of date or quality was the manufacturer itself.
Today I noted at auction in Edinburgh a "A LARGE QUEEN ANNE STYLE TWIN-HANDLED PORRINGER WITH COVER LONDON ASSAY OFFICE, LONDON 2023
with additional cancelled marks, Benjamin Godfrey, London 1713, of traditional demi-fluted form, with S-scroll handles, the pull-off lid of similar design with knopped finial
23cm high, 42oz. Note: Please note that this piece was admitted to the Antique Plate Committee: Case number 9597 and now has 2023 London hallmarks " I am quoting the auction house description directly:
Those of you who know and collect Ben Godfrey’s work will note four rather odd things, first that the date letter is for 1713 or before Godfrey commenced his apprenticeship with John Craig, secondly that the item has been re-submitted to the London Goldsmiths in 2023 which has substituted a Sterling mark for the fake Britannia mark, thirdly the legislation of the time prevented sterling silver being sold for domestic plate (a measure to cut back on coin clipping) and fourthly that Godfrey would have had to have been only 14 when he made this item and stamped it with a steel punch he did not get approved to use until a decade or more later.
So two issues arising: first in a world of internet where auctioneers are no longer selling mostly to a sophisticated group of collectors and dealers but a world of amateur buyers, does this description lead or mislead? Might the buyer, reliant on the rep’ of the auctioneer, think he or she is getting a genuine 1713 item by a famous silversmith which has been restamped for double authentication by the modern Goldsmiths’ office?
And secondly: what if any steps should global collectors take or encourage their governments and duly authorised assay offices to take in order to prevent the mass distribution of sham silver which will have the same effect as the sham furniture market has had on antiques rendered in wood which, without rock solid provenance, fell by 2010 to less than 10% of their peak in 1990.
It is fairly safe to say in a world where politicians only respond usefully to issues which will garner them populist support and votes, the legislatures of the globe will do nothing. So it is up to the dealers and auction houses to preserve their trade and integrity or else see it and their livelihood dwindle to the status of a Georgian armchair with one Georgian leg and three after-market supports.
I am grateful to Phil Osbourn of Silver Makers Marks for his input and helpful comments on this and many other items that turn up at auction.
Christopher R W Wilson
Guildhall Antiques
Toronto, Canada