No British Plate mark on this WH & S cutlery, what is the hallmark please?

[johnpaul107]

Thanks to this excellent site I think I've identified the cutlery, I just inherited from my father, as being made by William Hutton and Sons, there's a WH & S hallmark on the knives, followed by a single stamp that I don't think could be either BP or Ltd. Is there anybody in the forum who knows what this mark is. I'd particularly love to know how old this canteen is.

John Paul







(admin photo edit)

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

The mark is the device used as a trade mark by William Hutton.

See: http://www.925-1000.com/silverplate__OSP5.html

Trev.

[johnpaul107]

Trev,

Thank you very much for your reply and the link, so they carried on using the 1807 mark from when the company was called William Hutton, before adding the son and sons later in the 19th Century? All of the other stuff I've seen on your site shows the company having BP marks or saying electro plate, the only marks on my stuff are what I've photographed, would this date it to a particular period or does it mean it's another kind of base metal, not silver gilt?

This whole site is an awesome resource, I'm very grateful to you and the people in your community for the work you do.

John Paul

[AG2012]

Hi,
The mark on the right is a triangle, open, with curled sides. It appeared very early (‚‚Hutton‚‚ only). Later is found as ‚‚angle plate‚‚.
Difficult to tell exact alloy (they even used ‚‚improved metal‚‚ mark).
Regards

[dognose]

Although it's always difficult to tell from images alone, I think it likely that the base metal will be steel (a magnet test will reveal that answer) as they appear to be close-plated, rather than electro-plated, items.

I would date the set to around the 1840's.

Trev.

[johnpaul107]

Trev,

I finally found a magnet and you're absolutely spot on, the cutlery is steel as you said, so close plated. The dating is really useful too. Appreciated.

John Paul