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A thorough reckoning of all the goldsmiths and silversmiths in London during
the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Photographic reproductions of all the marks are in one volume, while the other contains biographical sketches of the firms. This is a must for the complete library - a
worthy companion to Arthur Grimwade's London Goldsmiths.
From the dust jacket:The Directory covers the period when Great Britain was the foremost
industrial country of the world. London, as a flourishing port, the capital city of a great trading nation, and centre of a vast empire, attracted manufacturing gold and silver-smiths, retailers and allied traders from
all over the country to register their marks at its assay office, Goldsmiths' Hall. John Culme of Sotheby's was given access to the Registers at Goldsmiths' Hall and from his twelve years of intensive research of
these and other records of the period, the biographies which make up Volume I have been compiled. It would be hard to exaggerate the wealth of detail contained in the entries which include both firms and
individuals, tracing their histories (in one case from the 17th century) and bringing them up to the present day. By courtesy of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, the Antique Collectors' Club has been
allowed to photograph the metal plates which were struck with the mark of each maker registered at the London Assay Office between 1838 and 1914; thus Volume II records in alphabetical order 15,000 marks. This is the
first time the marks from that period have been published in their entirety.
Hallmarks are found on all kinds of objects, not only the silver teapots, tankards and spoons with which we are all familiar.
Ornamental mounts in gold and silver were often applied to objects made from other materials: glass claret jugs, ivory walking sticks, leather belts, etc. The traders represented in the Directory are, therefore, as
diverse as dog collar makers, surgical instrument makers, opticians, lapidaries and parasol makers. They include manufacturers' agents, wholesalers and importers. The information available is so wide that one can justly
regard these two volumes as a valuable contribution to the social and economic history of the period. This book will take its place alongside A.G. Grimwade's London Goldsmiths 1697-1837 as the essential
reference work of the succeeding period, 1838-1914, for all collectors, auctioneers, dealers and historians. |
