96 piece Princess Pattern Canteen, 1878/1977

96 Piece Princess Pattern 12 place settings Silver Dining Service, London 1880/1977

The Service

We are pleased to be offering a rare opportunity to own a boxed silver cutlery set in the graceful Princess Pattern.  This service provides for eight pieces per 12 place settings.

The canteen was most likely to have been boxed up in the late 1970’s using an original Victorian period Francis Higgins canteen as the base and additional pieces added by C F Hancocks to complete the set. The Francis Higgins pieces are hallmarked London 1880 with the balance of the spoons and forks made by C F Hancock in 1976/77 and the knives by CJ Vander in 1977. Francis Higgins were one of the very best makers of silver flatware and Hancocks continue to be one of the UK’s leading silver & jewellery retailers.

The set has 12 of all the main dining pieces, except for the round bowled soup spoons where there are 8. However, should they be needed, there are 4 additional dessert spoons and also the table spoons which were 19^th Century soup spoons: the latter can also double up as serving spoons. There are some empty spaces in the canteen should you wish to add extra pieces – see below for what we currently have available. Basically, we can adapt this fabulous canteen to suit your own particular needs.

Officially called Princess Number 1 pattern, this 19^th Century pattern has an elegant restrained decoration based on the King’s Pattern shape. It is a scarce and highly desirable pattern that is very rarely found boxed.

 Components

This 96-piece service consists of the following:

Total weight of weighable silver 4810 grams (154.7 troy ounces) plus 24 silver handled knives.

Optional Extras

The service has an empty section in the top for 12 coffee spoons and space in the drawer for up to 14 extra pieces. The following are available as extras on request:

• 5 coffee spoons

• 6 table forks

• 2 table spoons

• 2 dessert forks

There is also a space for a 3 piece carving set which we are currently unable to supply, but we do have a soup ladle in stock.

Condition

The silver is in excellent polished condition throughout with full unworn bowls and full and equal length fork tines.

Presentation

This canteen is presented within a wooden box with each piece having its own slot to prevent scuffing. There are some empty spaces in the box as described above and the table knives within the lid are restrained with a length of black elastic. The box is in sound condition, with some scratches and wear to the outside. The key to lock the box is present.

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.