I have a glass and stirling silver jug with the markings for H. W & Co. I believe the halter on the jug has the purity of stirling silver and was made in 1853? It is engraved to Arthur Holroyd from Christ’s College, Cambridge and I believe would have passed to my Grandfather. There are no dints but it does need a good polish!
It has a matching set of 4 water glasses, 4 wine glasses? and 6 sherry glasses?.
Have I got the date right? Any idea of the Value? Is the value altered or increased because it is engraved?
It’s a Birmingham hallmark with the date letter f for the assay year 1880/81. The maker’s mark is that of Horace Woodward & Co of Birmingham and London. Your jug is a claret jug so the glasses are for wine.
Based on prices being paid for claret jugs on Ebay the value would probably be £100 - £200 but the engraved dedication could deter some potential buyers.
Note that Stirling is a town in Scotland and 925 standard silver is Sterling.
1 Like
I agree about engraved dedications. Some buyers aren’t bothered by them, but for others, there’s a hierarchy that starts with “no added engraving” at the top of the list, proceeds downwards to “florid period monogram that could be mistaken for part of the engraved design,” and so on.
The acceptability of dedications often revolves around the subject matter - a silver collector who is also a lover of border collies might not be put off by an inscription that indicates that the cup was presented to the winner of a sheep dog trial.
Retail death consists of an anachronistic engraving - a lovely Georgian tankard inscribed, “Best wishes on his retirement to our favorite DJ, Woo-Woo!”
(I once had to endure a celebration like that in a little hotel in Santon Bridge while I was doing an England coast-to-coast walk, and yes, his nickname really was “Woo-Woo.”)
Thank you for your insight and wisdom. All very interesting learning about the stamps etc.