12 person Old English Canteen, 1853 GA

54-piece Silver Old English Pattern Canteen, London 1853/8 by George Adams (Chawner & Company)

The Service

We are pleased to be offering a straight 12 place settings mid-Victorian period silver cutlery service in Old English Pattern. The service provides for the basic four pieces per 12 place settings with a selection of serving pieces. Knives are available as optional extras (see below).

All the spoons, forks and servers were hand-wrought by the most important flatware maker of the Victorian period and bear hallmarks for London 1853 to 1858 by George Adams of Chawner & Company. All the pieces also bear an excellent engraved double crest to the front terminals – one a dove holding an olive branch and the other a bull’s head.

Old English Pattern

Old English Pattern was first introduced circa 1770 and has always been a very favoured pattern due to its elegant and simple form. It has been produced continually to the present day with a resurgence of popularity in the early 20^th Century.

The Maker

Chawner & Company was founded in 1815 by William Chawner, on the solid grounding of an apprenticeship and later partnership within the most important line of specialist spoon and forks makers dating back to the mid-18^th century.

Chawner & Company became the largest and most important specialist silver flatware makers of the 19^th Century. In 1840, George W Adams took over the business from his mother-in-law Mary Chawner and developed the company even further using his “GA” maker’s mark. They introduced new flatware patterns and fashioned silver for important private clients and high end retailers.

The company was prolific in their output and always produced the best quality silver flatware available. The spoons and forks were hand forged to ensure balance and durability, and were made from a good gauge of silver to give them a nice hefty weight in the hand. The reputation of Chawner & Company endures to this day and a canteen wrought by them will give maximum satisfaction.

Components

This 54-piece service consists of the following:

Total weight of weighable silver 3170 grams (102 troy ounces).

Optional Extras

We can supply more Old English pattern dining and serving pieces by George Adams that will complement this service, but lack the same engraved crests.

Knives: Antique silver handled knives rarely survive in good order and so we recommend modern or new knives that are fitted with stainless steel blades:

24 New Silver Handled Old English Pattern Knives (12 table & 12 dessert) - £1320

Condition

Excellent condition with full length tines and unworn spoon bowls.

Presentation

This canteen is offered loose. We can supply anti-tarnish cutlery rolls on request. These navy blue rolls have individual pockets to hold 12 items per roll and are available for £15 each.

As with all the canteens available from our web-site, we are happy to send a sample place setting for approval, on receipt of a fully refundable surety payment, prior to purchasing this canteen.