Can anyone help me with this Silver plated tea/coffee pot
Who made it ?
What year ?
And is it worth selling?
Many thanks
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2561 - pattern number.
Louis IV style coffee pot (for the sake of accuracy 
).
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This elaborate hot water jug will have been part of a four-part silver tea service. The Americans, who had had earlier an altercation with the British about tea tax, culminating in the Boston Harbour fracas, had rather gone off it and used the UK-made tea-set hot water jugs as coffee pots.
So import this fine item to the US and voila, it’s a coffee pot identified as to maker only by the numbers “2 5 '61” and the cross arrow symbol of the City of Sheffield where it was undoubtably made with a single arrow below the numbers.
The next questions you had asked is by whom and when.
A colleague of mine has quite correctly pointed out the cross arrow symbol – which originally referred to the city’s involvement with the fletching business and other munitions manufacture-- was used by William Hutton & Sons.
Huttons took on and used the cross arrows trademark when it took over Creswick & Co’s business in 1902.
TJ Creswick had used the mark since the early part of the 19th century to mark Sheffield plate.
The full history is set out here:
and the trademark acquisition by Huttons here:
So this is the mark used by Creswick on plate even after 1840 as it had turned down an offer to take licence for electroplate production from the Elkington Bros and continued with the older method later than its competitors which is likely why it ran into difficulty.
Her’s an example of Sheffield Plate by Creswick marked with the cross arrow trademark
However, the patent filed by Elkington expired after 14 years and, to my non-expert eye, this does look more like electroplate than Sheffield Plate.
So final answer, this does not look like an Edwardian hot water jug. This is probably high Victorian design electro-plate by Creswicks after 1857 (1843 + 14 years) and before 1879 when Favells took over.
As to value: if it was Sheffield plate – that’s the physical fusion of a sandwich of copper between two plates of sterling silver, just about the same value as if it were sterling silver throughout such is the scarcity of good Sheffield. But as electro-plate… well scroll through Ebay and see what you can find but its depressingly low compared to the silver prices.
CRWW
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Susan, could you take a closer look at the marked area? Are these markings of some kind?
Sometimes on silver and silver-plated items, signatures could be found in the strangest places…
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THOMAS, JAMES & NATHANIEL CRESWICK
CRESWICK & COMPANY
Sheffield
Formerly TJ & N Creswick (Thomas, James & Nathaniel Creswick). The “arrows” trademark was first registered in 1811 for Old Sheffield Plate production. The cross arrows trademark was later acquired by William Hutton & Sons in 1902. Electroplating began in 1852. The firm became Creswick & Co in 1855. The letter/symbol next to the “arrows” identifies the journeyman who made the piece
There is, in fact something that may be a journeyman mark, which may well be a J on the bottom plate of your hot water jug exhibited
Journeyman or tally marks were used in the trade to identify piece work for purposes of pay packages since craftsmen were paid by what they did in the shops rather than by a salary.
Because I cannot read the mark, if indeed it is a mark, I had not referred to it.
Of greater potential interest would be the “British Design registry number” That would tell us who owned this pre trademark Act design had it been registered.
Both T.J. & N. Creswick and its successor Creswick & Co (Sheffield) were highly active in registering their trademarks and hallmarks for sterling silver and Sheffield plate.
While they are famously known for their “crossed arrows” mark shown by yourself which was registered in 1811 for Old Sheffield Plate , the firm also registered further silver marks in 1831, 1852, 1858, and 1863.
In 1819 T.J. & N. Creswick registered Nathaniel Creswick’s mark furthering the partnership of Thomas & James.
In 1852 T.J. & N. Creswick registered additional silver marks and began mixing traditional Old Sheffield Plate techniques with electroplating.
In 1858 & 1863 Creswick & Co., Despite the restructuring of the firm, registered new silver marks from Paternoster Row in 1858 and Sycamore Street in 1863.
None of these marks, most of which are for sterling silver not plate, are discernible on your fine hot water jug.
Since the pattern design number is not registered one would have to conclude, if it was a design code at all it would have to be an internal pattern mark.
Frederick Bradbury’s “1912 History of Sheffield Plate”, re-issued and updated in 1968 sets out the various Creswick designs in both plate and later.
It does, however fail to list any pattern registrations either internal or external. That doesn’t mean there were not any, just we don’t really know the numbering or how they were ordered.
Which leaves the possibility that this isn’t a pattern or design number but a date code. and that '61 at the end refers to the year 1861 and the two earlier numbers are the 25th day of the fifth month of that year.
This fits both with the time electroplate production started in Creswicks and the style of the jug fitting a fashion of the time and the number spacing
And that would be a very precise answer to your original question which is when was it made if we knew it was put on by the maker rather than the retailer or the owner in due course.
CRWW
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