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The mark for silver meeting the sterling standard of purity is the Lion Passant, but there have been other variations over the years, most notably the mark indicating Britannia purity. The Britannia standard was obligatory in Britain between 1697 and 1720 to try to help prevent British sterling silver coins from being melted to make silver plate.
As it now stands, the compulsory part of the UK hallmark consists of the sponsor or maker's mark, the assay office mark, and the standard of fineness (in this case silver, 925 parts in 1,000). Examples of British hallmarks for 925 silver. These are shown in the top of the two example hallmarks.
Multiple marks on silver, left to right: maker's mark , lion passant (assay mark for sterling silver), London town mark, date letter (1835), duty mark . A mark is a written or imprinted symbol used to indicate some trait of an item, for example, its ownership or maker.
The four wardens of the Goldsmiths’ Company were tasked with visiting workshops in the City of London to assay (test) silver articles. If these articles were found to be below standard they were originally forfeit to the king, but if they passed, each article received the king's mark of authentication which was the mark of a leopard's head.
Initially, hallmarks consisted of the goldsmiths' proper mark which was the maker's mark originally used to identify the silversmith or goldsmith responsible for making the article. The fineness mark, the crowned harp, was applied to 22 carat gold and sterling silver, which was silver of a standard of 925 parts of fine silver in each 1,000.
The anchor mark no longer indicates that an item was assayed in Birmingham. In July 2016 Birmingham Assay Office began striking its hallmark via a subsidiary in Mumbai, India. In 2018 the British Hallmarking Council announced that hallmarks struck overseas must be different from domestic hallmarks. Beginning in early 2019 a modified version of ...
Silver Candlesticks by Paul de Lamerie. Hallmarked London, circa 1747-49 Lamerie's maker's mark for 1732 on the underside of a Britannia gauge waiter Soup tureen with the crest of Trinity College. In August 1703, de Lamerie became the apprentice to a London goldsmith of Huguenot origin, Pierre Platel (1659–1739).
The company that was to become Garrard was founded by George Wickes (1698–1761), who entered his mark in Goldsmiths' Hall in 1722. Wickes set up business in Threadneedle Street in the City of London in 1722; the company moved to Panton Street off Haymarket in central London in 1735 as a goldsmith and provider of jewellery and other luxury ...