A very pedestrian EP mustard spoon marked “Sanby & Berrett” which defied my expectation of a quick sourcing.
Turned out Samuel Sanby was not a silversmith at all but an Ironmonger with a long established store at #6 Bridge St, Southampton, UK. who in March 31, 1873 took an indentured apprentice, Horncastle for five years and on November 1, 1875 assigned that apprenticeship to his newly-formed partnership at the same street address; Sanby & Berrett, Ironmongers.
Unlikely Samuel made the flatware blank although he could have. Likely he bought the blanks possibly with his name stamped on them and applied the electroplating or that too was done elsewhere.
Southampton was and is a port town and he may have had had a plater in store for the brightwork on ships needing a re-burbish. Or he could have sent the work and commission out to his plater elsewhere, perhaps the Soho Factory of Mr Boulton & Watt in Birmingham.
Ironmonger back there were the precursors of the general store or department store. They had everything for the house and likely in a port town the boat.
I bought this in a mixed box of old silver decades ago and had put it aside as scrap until I realized three things about it:
A lot of the platers in Victorian times aren’t listed as smiths or even platers by anybody. They are just locals with customers needing re-plating done. Ships in salt water being the most frequent return customers. And you find them in the town directories. As I did.
Second these mustard spoons could have been filched off a passenger liner leaving Southampton and arriving on the West coast of the US or Canada. But since it is not marked, it may have just been a silver plate set part made for the start of a life in the colonies and taken abroad by one of the so called " fishing fleet". Young ladies leaving man-shortage
UK seeking husbands in India or Americas where a lot of them had gone.
And thirdly, if Samuel Sanby and his partner had done a silver plate set for one customer leaving their port for another there must be more. Which is the point of this post. Anybody with more can have this little spoon with my compliments. All you might like to do is post how and where you came by yours and if anybody is going to ever build a comprehensive on line database for provincial EP, consent to its use for that purpose.
CRWWilson
Guildhall Antiques,
Toronto