Silver Art Nouveau Plate by Gilbert Marks, 1899

This is a fabulous and very rare silver plate or salver made by one of the most important English silversmiths of all time - Gilbert Marks.

The hand-made, late Victorian plate measures 8.7" in diameter and features the very distinctive Art Nouveau chasing of Gilbert Marks around the border depicting thistles and carnations. Pieces by Gilbert Marks are invariably signed and dated and this example is no exception with the date of 1902 post-dating the hallmarks by couple of years, suggesting that Marks kept the plate in stock awaiting a sale. The plate is in excellent condition with a good, antique patina and clear hallmarks.

Gilbert Leigh Marks (1861-1905) was one of the first silversmiths to consciously renounce industrial manufacture in favour of making by hand.  Although he seems to have had little to do with the Arts and Crafts movement he shared many of its ideals. The importance of his work lies in the outstanding quality of its chasing. In a short career cut short by ill health, he is known to have only produced between only 700 and 800 pieces - most of them in silver. His earlier pieces were almost entirely dedicated to the perfection of chasing floral motifs. 

"The man who buys the stock plate is buying useful articles but not unique ones, whereas he who commissions an original work upon which the craftsman has bestowed his best personal labour is buying a work of art, the money value of which increases with an increase of reputation that may come to the artist". (Gilbert Leigh Marks speaking in an interview with The London Art Journal in 1898).

See  `The Directory of Gold & Silversmiths, Jewellers & Allied Traders, 1838-1914` vol. I, by John Culme pages 312-13 for more information.