Hi there,
I am new to the site and would very much appreciate your help.
I have a matching 3 piece tea set - pot, sugar basin and cream jug. The basin and cream jug have the same makers mark which I believe to be James deakin and sons, JD & S as 3 separate stamps and I believe it is electroplated on pewter. Marked EP and also had Glasgow mark I believe.
The teapot however is marked differently. There are 4 plain initials W.H.H.S
Beneath it says EPNS A1 - so electroplated on nickel. And then says hard soldered orient plate.
My questions are:
Who is the maker as I have scoured internet to no avail? I wondered if the last S meant Sheffield.
What does orient plate mean?
Is it usual that teapot is made of one material whilst other items made of another or is this a mismatched set - although they look like they match?
Many thanks.
The NS in EPNS is Nickel Silver; this is a base metal alloy very similar to pewter in composition. You do not explain why you think that the sucrier and creamer are electroplated pewter so it is possible that they too are plated nickel silver - this is one of the most common base metals in use. Orient Plate will be the manufacturer’s name for their product - a slightly exotic name was thought to appeal to buyers.
It certainly happens that sets are made up of items from different manufacturers and if all 3 components match properly then this is probably what happened.
The S in WHHS may very well stand for Sheffield. The final initial in an electroplate mark often stands for the town of origin, so B for Birmingham, G for Glasgow, etc. And on the subject of Glasgow I must point out that there are no specific town mark for electroplate so it is unlikely that what you are seeing has no significance with relation to origin.
I am unable to be any more specific about makers without pictures.
Phil
Thanks for your reply.
The reason I think 2 items are pewter is because I found a brochure online by the maker which explained they used to plate onto pewter.
I thought the last symbol on the 2 similar marks looked like Glasgow marks?
Thank you for your time.
Thanks for the pictures - that’s much more helpful. Yes, JD&S is James Deakin & Sons. The “Glasgow” mark is actually one of those old-fashioned table lamps, Deakins’ trade mark, not the tree, bell & salmon mark of the Glasgow Assay Office, but I can see how the similarity might have caused confusion.
WHHS is W H Hall of Sheffield.
The set matches very well but it is a common pattern so may have been assembled by a retailer from the catalogues of the separate manufacturers.
Thanks for the information. That’s really useful to know.
Kind regards, Nicola