I am trying to decode the marks on a small fruit knife my wife has had for about 70 years. I know only that, being marked A1, it is plated, but I can’t identify the maker, the assayer or the year.
The five marks are (l - r) EB, &Co S, what looks like a spur complete with rowel, and A1.
Any help would be welcome.
Thanks,
Studio316
EB &Co S is Edwin Blyde & Co of Sheffield. The spur is a trade mark of theirs and, as you have identified, A1 indicates electroplate. Assaying is a process carried out on precious metals so this knife blade has not been assayed. It follows, therefore, that there is no hallmark and hence no evidence of dating. The company was active until c1940 but, after having been started by Edwin Blyde alone in the 1870s, I cannot find when they became Edwin Blyde & Co.
Phil
Aha! So the “S” is not a date mark, but rather just indicates “Sheffield”? That makes sense. The date then is somewhere between the 1870s and around 1940, so it predates its present owner (born 1949).
Phil, many thanks for your help.
I did a bit more research, and discovered that the firm still exists, though as pewterers, not silversmiths or platers. They trace their origins back as far as 1798, though the good Edwin was not born until 1843.