Valentines day – Are You Ready?

Did you know that:

• Valentines Day was first established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD, and was later deleted from the General Roman Calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.
• The first recorded association of Valentine’s Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer Chaucer wrote: For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.
• Using the language of the law courts for the rituals of courtly love, a “High Court of Love” was established in Paris on Valentine’s Day in 1400. The court dealt with love contracts, betrayals, and violence against women. Judges were selected by women on the basis of a poetry reading
• Valentine’s Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in Hamlet (1600–1601):To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day,
  All in the morning betime,
  And I a maid at your window,
  To be your Valentine.
  Then up he rose, and donn’d his clothes,
  And dupp’d the chamber-door;
  Let in the maid, that out a maid
  Never departed more.
  —William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene

Its amazing what useless facts you can find with just a little research on the Internet. Well in order to help you find the perfect gift for this valentines day can I suggest this wonderful Antique Victorian Silver & Red Enamelled Heart Shaped Lidded Box I love it so much it is now the logo of this website and our Antique Silver Facebook Page and at the time of writing its still for sale. Now it is not cheap but then neither are you. Gents buy it for the Lady in your life and Ladies why not have a row with the man in your life and then buy it as a making up present from him to you. He cannot refuse you on those grounds. I know this to be true as this is what karen has done to me in the past!

The Queens Diamond Jubilee is in June of this year and what better way to celebrate than to buy a piece of Silver from the Queens own Goldsmith and Jeweller Stuart Devlin. His work is always distinctive and he has a rich history of awards and National and Royal commissions. He is surely one of the masters to collect for the future and we have been lucky in buying a superb Silver Box made by him in 1971. You can see the picture and link below. The quality of his craftsmanship shines through on this piece.

From the Modern collectible Silversmith to the very old. We have listed below a small waiter from John Emes. Now he is distinctive and very collectible because this firm of Silversmith started in origin as far back as 1680 and has a record of marks being handed on through family members and amalgamations with some of our very best Silversmiths over time. You can find out more about John Emes here

Now if you do not want to buy our heart shaped lidded box you could always buy a belt and a bag:

Jim asked his friend, Tony, whether he had bought his wife anything for Valentine’s Day.

‘Yes,’ came the answer from Tony who was a bit of a chauvinist, ‘I’ve bought her a belt and a bag.’

‘That was very kind of you,’ Jim added, ‘I hope she appreciated the thought.’

Tony smiled as he replied, ‘So do I, and hopefully the vacuum cleaner will work better now.’

Valentines day – Are You Ready?

Below are this weeks new arrivals on our website. As always if you click a link and it takes you to our home page it means the item has sold.

 Fish Servers Hallmarks London 1898

Coffee Pot Silver Hallmarks London 1911

Silver Cigarette Case Latvian 875 Standard

Caddy Spoon Silver Hallmarks For Sheffield 1981

Grape Scissors Silver Hallmarks London 1968

Silver Waiter Hallmarks London 1806 By John Emes

Silver Tea Set Hallmarks Sheffield 1897

Silver Box By Stuart Devlin Silver Hallmarks London 1971

Dish Victorian Silver Hallmarks Sheffield 1892

I hope you enjoyed this weeks Newsletter from Silver2treasure. If you did please click the Like Button and +1 Buttons as it helps the website grow.

Regards

Steve

Valentines day – Are You Ready?

Ladies buy your own Museum Piece of Silver.

It is always pleasing to find and acquire unusual pieces of silver history and we have been lucky in finding a complete and working example of very early Victorian Hair Curling Tongs. An American example is featured in a museum in the States and if you click the link you read the detailed history they have recorded for their set. Now being a man I am quite astonished that “The first recorded use of heated tongs to curl or straighten hair was in 1872.  Marcel Grateau, a Parisian stylist used heated tongs in an attempt to curl and straighten hair.  Over time, this method for styling hair became quite popular and the modern curling iron was born”.

I was of the view that this was an act only invented when electric tongs came along. Our set is English Hallmarked and you can take a look at multiple pictures by clicking the link below

Having been to another auction this week it reminded me of this classic Everyone knows auctions speak louder than words – because of auction-ears. And it’s still the one place where you can still get something for nodding. But of course you do have to stay to the bidder end.

RBS boss Stephen Hester is in the eye of a political storm right now over his £963,000 share bonus. All leading politicians are queueing up to be quoted against this outrageous use of taxpayers money. They have very short memories our MP’s, it wasn’t that long ago they were abusing our money by fiddling their expenses. A case of the pot calling the kettle black!

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day across the world and this link takes you to a Guardian newspaper article describing the various rememberance events taking place all over the Globe today.

Did you have a street party for the Royal Wedding? If so you might want to think about organising one now to mark The Queen’s 60 years on the throne. Most celebrations are planned for the first weekend of June so if you want to close your street off you need to apply soon.

Back to Silver now, Karen has had a frustrating week with eBay and its Animal Plants and Wild Life Policy. They do make some crazy rules. You can read her blog on it here EBay Bonehead Or Bone Handled?

Below are this weeks new arrivals at our website. As always if you click the link and it takes you to the home page instead of the item it means it has sold.

I have also created some new pages for you to read here. Antique Silver Markings &  Antique Silver Glossary both designed to provide helpful information to our customers – please let me know if you find them helpful. If you do please do click the like and +1 buttons as this will help the site to grow and reach others.

Ladies buy your own Museum Piece of Silver

Hair Curling Tongs Victorian Antique Silver Case

Sugar Caster Hallmarks Birmingham 1911

Purse Or Card Case Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1939

Pedestal Bowl Silver Hallmarks Sheffield 1929

Perfume Bottle Antique Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1890

3 Piece Christening Set Silver Hallmarks Sheffield 1961

Silver Goblets Hallmarks Birmingham 1971

Dish Antique Silver Hallmarks London 1900

Silver Box Hallmarks Birmingham 1966

Silver Comport Hallmarks Birmingham 1936

Thank you for your vist

Regards

Steve

Ladies buy your own Museum Piece of Silver

PS please click the like buttons

I do not know if you are a fan of the latest Sherlock Holmes Drama from the BBC but I am. I may moan at the cost of the TV Licences but this series is worth every penny. What I did not  realise was the power of product placements in such programmes. I have been reading books by Alan Sugar and he makes a great play on how the BBC tried to stop him showing his Amstrad phone on his office desk during the series The Apprentice  in case it was seen as unfair advertising .

Crazy I thought but apparently not so. In the picture above of Sherlock serving the master criminal Moriarty tea, a teapot was used from a specific designer. The striking teapot came from a design by Ali Miller. It has a image of the map of the UK on its side.

Well Lord Sugar was right because by the end of Sunday evening when the programme aired her website was flooded by emails and she had sold out all her stock!!!

Well Sherlock in your next series, an antique silver tea set from Silver2treasure would be a nice prop for your set please!  Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Disappearing Tea Set

Do we as a Nation value our Heritage? Well a recent report issued by the Government on the export of works of art shows that £3.7 million worth of treasure was saved from export for the Nation in 2011 after being block from leaving the Country. This amount is small considering in 2010 just one item the enormous Thomas Wentworth silver wine cistern, pictured here, which sold at Sotheby’s in July 2010 for £2.2m (an auction high for English silver). Knocked down to an Asian private buyer, UK museums were given seven months to match this sum and, after grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and The Art Fund, it was finally acquired by the Tudor mansion Temple Newsam in Leeds

You can find out more on this story of what the nation saved and what it didn’t here

Not quite the same prices but still some family heirlooms for future generations have been listed on the website this week. below you will see the newest collection. As always if you click a link and it takes you to the home page it means the item has sold.

Toddy ladle Inset Silver Coin 1787

Tea Infusing Spoon Hallmarks London 1893

Chatelaine In White Metal

Silver Cream Jug Hallmarks Sheffield 1921

Queens Pattern Silver Handled Pie Server

Queens Pattern Silver Handled Butter Spreader

 Queens Pattern Silver Handled Cheese Knife

Bon Bon Dishes In Sterling Silver

Brandy Decanter Label Silver & Enamel

Inkwell Capstan Shaped In Antique Birmingham Hallmarked Silver

Pocket Knife Tortoiseshell Case

Coffee Pot Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1919

 Jewellery Box Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1958

Thank you for visiting

Regards

Steve

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Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Disappearing Tea Set

• The number of Kitchen/Diners had grown by 50% in the past 20 years – 3 in 10 households no longer have separate dining rooms
• A third of all work undertaken in the home was for work to create an open plan kitchen / diner
• 40% of homes now have a Utility Room
• 1 in 50 have a gym
• 20% have converted a garage into a room
• 20% have added en suite bathrooms
• 10% of owners have spent more than £35,000 adapting their properties whilst 5% have spent more than £50,000

So where do you stand on the Kitchen / Diner debate? For the Silver trade this means that a very large section of the traditional customer base for traditional silver items such as cutlery candlesticks and dishes is shrinking fast. Whilst this may have some effect on demand the recent high prices of scrap silver has seen a huge amount of these items being sold for scrap and melted down hence being lost to the market forever.

Perhaps there is some natural balance going on by the trends of modern society. For those of us who still value traditional dining the scarcity of these quality silver items means we will still have to pay a premium for them. So where do you stand on this debate?

Back to this weeks antique silver listing. my favourite has to be the Georgian Silver coffee Pot – it really is stunning. Once again if you click on any link and it takes you to the Home Page it means the item has sold.

This weeks humour. An adverts seen for an antique desk!

For sale: an antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers.

Well I thought it amusing……

Coffee Pot Georgian Antique Silver

Vinaigrette Hallmarks Birmingham 1809 By Samuel Pemberton

Russian Silver Spirit VodkaTots

Silver Fish Slice Hallmarks For London 1825

Cake Tongs Or Server 835 Standard Silver

Candlesticks Sheffield Silver By Francis Howard

Sauce Boat Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1913

Coffee Pot Hallmarks London 1979

 Napkin Rings Set Of 12 Birmingham Silver 1912

A Pair Of Silver Toast Racks Birmingham 1919

Thank you for your visit

Regards

Steve.

If you are able please click the Like Button or +1 Button

We saw the exit of Osama bin Laden as well as Muammar Gaddafi and few shed a tear at their passing. We also saw raw great and selfishness at home in the form of the Riots in Tottenham as well as the upsurge in the use of mobile devices and Facebook.

So what can we expect in 2012? Well in July we have the London 2012 Olympics to look forward to as well as the first weekend in June when we have an  additional Bank Holiday for the Queens Diamond jubilee.

On a personal front 2011 saw the development of the this Silver2treasure.Com website as well as the launch of the Antique Silver Facebook Page Both have been well received by you our customers. We are up to 75 fans on Facebook and hope you will all visit the page and click the Like Button (you can do so at the top of this page).

Christmas for us was a bit of a disaster with Karen putting her back out the day before and in 34 years of marriage it was the first time I have been allowed to cook Christmas Dinner! Well I say I cooked it but Karen managed to supervise it from the “medical chair” and the occasional waddle into the kitchen to direct and taste! The bad news was I had to close the shop and website for a few days so apology to any regular reader or customer who found us “closed” but all is functioning normally now.

The start to 2012 has been very brisk on the Silver Sales front. The Australian economy has grown by 1.2%  in the second quarter of last year and this has been reflected in the number of sales that we have been posted off to Australia this last week – long may it continue. I have had enough of all this European doom and gloom in the media.

This weeks Joke ( I know you love them really)

I was a bit disturbed by the police cordon on my local high street. There’s a speciality organic shop there known for large vats you use a huge scoop to get goods out of. An officer told me one of the staff was found dead this morning, head first in a vat of muesli, having effectively drowned in it. They think she was pulled under by a strong current and worse, its happened before, it’s a cereal killing!

Now back to business. This weeks Silver Listings are below. As ever if you click the link and it goes to the Home Page it means the item has sold and you are too late!

Below is a short video I have created to show you how to get the best out of the Silver2treasure Newsletter

The Chinese New Year is not until Monday 23rd January 2012 when they say farewell to the year of the Rabbit and welcome in the year of the Dragon but you can celebrate now with this remarkable Chinese silver & Mother Of Pearl Belt.

Chinese Silver & Carved Mother of Pearl Belt

Small Pedestal Comport Hallmarks Sheffield 1920

Antique Silver Tea Caddy Hallmarks London 1901

Silver Art Deco Sauce Boat Hallmarks Birmingham 1940

Miniature Tea Set In Silverplate

Antique Silver Soup Spoons Boxed Hallmarks Sheffield 1912

Please visit us on Facebook where we have agrowing fans base. You can visit our antique silver page here and I would really appreciate it if you click the like button or the +1 button at the head of this page.

We hope all our customers and readers have a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Regards

Steve

PS You are welcome to leave comments in the box below.

About 2o years ago Karen slipped a disc in her back and was laid up for 2 weeks. Ever since she has had to be careful of her back. Yesterday after walking a neighbours dog called Henry (you can read about Henry by clicking the link and visiting her blog) she twisted awkwardly and is now in a great deal of pain fom her back.

Yesterday was a bit of a struggle, I managed to get Karen up into bed and administered some pain killers whilst I then closed the eBay shop and processed the last of the silver sales. We struggled through the day. Today she is a little better and has managed to get out of bed and hobble downstairs where we have an upright chair which she is able to sit in. This has meant the last minute Christmas preparation have fallen to me. Today was the planned day for a full house clean and the last minute shop for fresh produce prior to the big day.

Now after 30 years of being in the Police I have found the best way to deal with a crisis is to inject some humour. Well Karen has been directing her troops like a General in the field. Our house phone can be used like a walkie talkie and I have been directed around the house like a small army. I have met some wonderful people today, I have been introduced to Mr. Muscle and I have met face to face the lesser spotted Toilet Duck! I have also managed to break the shower screen handle and a toilet brush with my vigorous cleaning activity.

I have been to the shops and brought home the Turkey and tomorrow I will receive the depression which will arrive from the South West in the form of the Mother In law!

At least this year I will get to cook the Christmas dinner with our Son Adrian. We already have a pact that we shall accidentally miss out those foul green wrapped sulphur balls otherwise known as Brussels Sprout and blame each other!

So I hope you will forgive me for closing up shop but this Christmas thing is too big and has got in the way. I am trying to think of an anolgy with Christmas. The Three Wise Men come to mind. Karen has repeatedly told me that:

1. Men cannot cook

2. Men cannot clean.

3. Men cannot comply with really simple instructions!

And you know, she might just be right.

Still there are thousands more homeless and worse off than we are. So I do hope you have a super Christmas.

I did get to list some things on the website and they are listed below.

Beaker In Antique Silver Hallmarks For London 1908

Spoon And Ladle Antique Silver Boxed Set

Cigarette Box Silver Hallmarks London 1919

Sifter Spoon In Silver Plate

Art deco style silver cream ladle

Salt Spoons A Pair Hallmarks Sheffield 1915

Regards

Steve

How much would you tip your postman?? I doubt it would be over £30 so why would the Royal Mail make a feature on their website regarding tips for Postmen. I wonder how many Postmen if offered £30 this Christmas would “politely decline”?

The Royal Mail website says: “It’s the season of goodwill. But it’s important to be careful about accepting gifts so you don’t fall foul of the Bribery Act. A bribe is not just about money, it could be any gift, hospitality or favour. Gifts may only be given or accepted up to a value of £30; any gifts over £30 must be politely declined.”

Our weekly Christmas humour.

What sort of ball doesn’t bounce ?
A snowball !

Below are a selection of this weeks listing to our website. please take a look. If you click a link and it takes you to our front page it will mean the item has sold.

Master Butter Knife Silver Hallmarks Sheffield 1856 This is the larger version of the traditional butter knife

Bookmark Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1908 Another classic gift for the bookworm in your life

Fish Servers French Silver Plate These are unusual decorative and nice.

Caddy Spoon Silver Swiss Floral pattern spoon

Chalice In Silver Plate Spanish in origin this is a nice example

Bookmark Dagger Shape Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1903 You cannot have enough bookmarks I always say

WMF Cake Slice A good every day utensil

WMF Soup Ladle An affordable alternative to Silver

Thanks for stopping by and visiting Silver2treasure.com

Regards

Steve & Karen

Australian teaset brings £42,000 in Yorkshire29 November 2011

It may look like a textbook early 19th century silver teaset, but this unprepossessing three-piece service seen at Tennants of Leyburn, North Yorkshire on November 17-19 carried marks later identified as those of the early Australian silversmith Alexander Dick (c.1791-1843).

After the catalogue had gone to print, the £700-900 estimate was soon revised to £20,000-30,000.

Dick arrived in Sydney as a free-settler from Edinburgh in 1824 and employed a number of assigned convicts in his workshop. Although himself sentenced in 1829 to seven years transportation to Norfolk Island for receiving stolen dessert spoons, he was later pardoned and became one of the most prolific manufacturers of silver flatware and presentation pieces in the colony.

His mark appears on the first Australian-made racing trophy (the 1827 Junius Cup) and he was praised as the maker of the Sydney Subscription Cup, a now lost 84oz silver trophy ornamented with a gold horse finial and gold horse-heads for an 1834 race meeting. Retiring in 1841 (the year the first silver mine opened in Australia), he died two years later leaving an estate of almost £9000.

In the end it was knocked down to the London trade at £42,000 (plus 17.5 per cent buyer’s premium). In 2009, Christie’s sold a similar three-piece tea-service with the mark of Alexander Dick for a premium-inclusive £33,650.

Read the full article here Link to article

Quote of the week Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money.  ~Author Unknown

With all this doom and gloom around strikes and economies here is this weeks humorous entry winner

Knock Knock
Who’s there ?
Avery
Avery who ?
Avery merry Christmas !

They will get worse the nearer to Christmas we get unless you have a better one – please enter it in the comments section below.

This week has been busy with visits to auctions and preparing silver for sale. below you will find this weeks listings. If you click a link and it takes you to the home page it means the item has sold.

Cake Slice Or Server Dutch Silver

Pepper Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1912

Mustard Pot Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1912

Toast Rack Silver Hallmarks Sheffield 1933

Napkin Rings Plus Cutlery Rests In Silver Plate

Mustard Pot Silver Hallmarks Sheffield 1931

Chocolate Pot Antique Silver Hallmarks Sheffield 1903

Salver Georgian Silver Hallmarks London 1771

Childs Rattle

Bridge pencils In Sterling Silver

Butter Dish Silver Hallmarks Chester 1902

Mustard Pot Silver Hallmarks London 1817

Dutch Swing Handled Dish

Christening Mug Silver Hallmarks Sheffield 1905

Butter Dish Hallmarks Chester 1921

Regards

Steve

One of our customer told us this week of a great use for silver table salts. Now whilst many do use these salts for the correct purpose many people shy away from their traditional serving function. So why not place tea lights into the base and use them as a candle holder table decorations. This will enable you to display them on your table and make them a talking point at dinner. you can now buy these candles in all shapes and sizes as well as colours and they are really good value.

We think this is a great idea and you can see our selection of silver salts here

Post Early This Christmas

It’s surely a sign of the times. Royal Mail have been inundated with applications for the 18000 temp jobs hired annually to deal with the Christmas post. 110,000 applications have been received for the jobs – that’s more than six applicants per vacancy. In 2011, 70000 hopefuls applied for the positions.

The Christmas posties join Royal Mail’s regular 130,000 posties and many have already started their work. Royal Mail’s Mark Higson says that they are still recruiting in some areas including Bristol, Portsmouth, Peterborough and Northampton.

Below is this weeks silver additions to the website. if you click a link which takes you to our home page it means you were too late and the item has sold!

Silver Cream Ladle Hallmarks Sheffield 1864 very pretty little ladle

Silver Candle Holders Hallmarked Birmingham 2000 These are really impressive for the price

Hip Flask Hallmarks London 1911 By AspreyA gentleman’s gift of quality

Tea Strainer Antique Silver Import Marks Chester 1907 Really unusual and decorative

Pepperettes Hallmarks Birmingham 1908 A good practical pair

Wine Taster In Silver Plate Rare find at this price

Sauce Boat By Walker & Hall Always in great demand at Christmas

Bottle Coaster Hallmarked Birmingham 1984 Don’t let that red wine stain the table cloth ever again!

Perfume Bottle Hallmarked Birmingham 1926 Fond memories of Paris??

Silver Salts Hallmarked Birmingham 1903 With amazing gilt interiors

Napkin Rings Set Of 6 In Silver Plate A nice clean boxed set

More pictures of salts in use as candle holders

OK I feel better now! Did  I mention previously Christmas is coming fast. We are frantically trying to list as much Antique Silver and Silver gifts for you as we can. Below you will see our latest editions. Every Christmas you trail around the shops trying to find the right gift. you endure full car parks and extortionate parking charges. you endure being pushed and jostled in crowded aisles only to get home and discover that perfect gift probably will not be suitable after all! Then the frantic search on the Internet begins. luckily you track down the real gift you were looking for in the first place. you fill in all the boxes on the website shopping card only to find you are too late and they are out of stock!!

Sound familiar – well this is the sequence of events we have endured in previous years. But it does not have to be like this. keep visiting our website and feel free to give us a ring to discuss your purchase, we are not some remote impersonal being – As Bob Hoskings would say “Its good to talk” (I wonder how many reading this post will remember the old BT adverts?)

At last an answer to that age old question – Whats the best thing to put into a Christmas Cake?? – Your teeth!

So please have a browse of this weeks newest additions below (If the link takes you to our Home Page it means the item has sold)

Napkin Rings Hallmarked Silver Birmingham 1972 A nice set

Cream Jug Hallmarked Antique Silver Sheffield 1897 This is pretty

Cream Jug In Antique Sterling Silver Hallmarked London 1880 A Classic by Barnard’s

Antique Silver Dish Hallmarks London 1892 This is a real Beauty!

Toast Rack Gondola Shaped Remember that trip to Venice???

Coffee Pot By Viners In Silverplate Impressive value here

Jewellery Box Hallmarks Birmingham 1913 Really decorative

Cake Forks Hallmarked Birmingham 1932 practical every day set

Pill Box London Import Marks A perfect gift for a lady

Wine Bottle Holder An essential for any dining room

Goblet Hallmarked Silver Birmingham 1969

Sauce Boat Art Deco Style We have two of these on offer

Cream Jug Antique Silver Hallmarks Birmingham 1907 Very usable

Silver Lidded Bowl Simply stunning

If you enjoy reading our newsletter please comment below

Regards

Steve