Tableware Knife made by who? James Lewis? Watson& Gillott? A.N.Other?

[Kalfred]

Hello, I saw a nice looking Sheffield made fancy pattern knife listed on Ebay. Silver bladed, mother of pearl handle and described as a butter spreader. I though it could have been a fish knife but at under 6 inches long (15 centimetres) it may well have been for butter.

The knife's maker, indicated in the hallmarks on the blade, was not one of the instantly recognised Sheffield companies. More research needed and if you look at the next photo, there are 2 silversmithing concerns involved with this knife. I did not find much in our Forum about the 2 concerns.

The ferrule on the mother of pearl handle was made by a different silversmith to the blade maker. Both sets of hallmarks have the standing "lion" mark to guarantee "sterling" 925 standard silver but there are different date letters. We need to sort out the 2 silversmithing concerns and then consider why the blade was made 3 years after handle. 

The blade has "J.L & S" nearly clearly show, in a cigar like cartouche and with the Sheffield assay office "crown" mark. This shows that the the mark is that of James Lewis & Sons who were recorded in: "Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham 1905" and "Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham 1911" at 149 London Road as
                                                  "Spoon & Fork & Electro-plated Goods & Fish Eaters & Carvers Manufacturers"
                            and then just "Spoon & fork manufacturers"

That company had actually registered a silver mark with the Sheffield Assay Office in 1896/97.

 The ferrule to the knife handle has the Sheffield "crown" mark on but the makers mark is "W.W" over "H.G" and this mark was registered to the partnership of "William Watson & Herbert Gillott". They registered the shown mark in 1898 but had in 1896 registered a similar mark but without the pellets (stops) between letters. The marks were registered to the firm at Furnival Street, Sheffield. Sheffield Indexers have several  entries relating to Watson & Gillott.

        Recorded in: Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham in 1905 and 1911
                                                                                  Watson, William Joseph (, silversmith (Watson & Gillott)).
                                                                                  Gillott, Herbert H. (, Cutlery manufacturer (Watson & G. )).

       Recorded in: Sheffield & Rotherham Kelly's Directory  in 1925
                                                                                  WATSON, William Joseph (~, Electro-plate manufacturer (Watson & Gillott)).
                                                                                   GILLOTT, Herbert Heiffor (~, Electro-plate manufacturer (Watson & G.)).

    
I found this summary of Watson & Gillott. "A partnership of William Watson and Herbert Gillott established in 1896. Cutlery manufacturers active at 23 Furnival St, (1897-1899) and Caledonia Plate Works 26 Eyre Lane, Sheffield (1900-1940)"

Back to the date letters now with better images of the of the date letters as present on the separate silver parts of the butter knife.

The ferrule has the stylised "f" for silver assay at Sheffield in 1898 and the blade has the styled "i" for 1901.

Is this evidence of outsourcing in Sheffield in the late Victorian and early Edwardian period? Who was the chicken and who was the egg? Did the blade company, Lewis's make the blade and buy in the ferrule and handle from W&G? Did W&G have the handle with ferrule and buy in the blade? Did a third party buy in all the bits, blade, ferrule and handle and construct the knife themselves or any did any other combination you can think of make it? What do we think?

 Now if silver is not your thing, here are likely examples of W&G electroplate marks or more precisely as they have "BP" on them, Britannia Plate marks. One spoon proudly carries the "Caledonia Silver" trade name  reflecting  W&G's Caledonia Plate Works.

This seems another example of the electroplate trade name being the "Works" name, something to remember when researching.
Kalfred  
 

[tozzin]

1 hour ago, Kalfred said:

Hello, I saw a nice looking Sheffield made fancy pattern knife listed on Ebay. Silver bladed, mother of pearl handle and described as a butter spreader. I though it could have been a fish knife but at under 6 inches long (15 centimetres) it may well have been for butter.

The knife's maker, indicated in the hallmarks on the blade, was not one of the instantly recognised Sheffield companies. More research needed and if you look at the next photo, there are 2 silversmithing concerns involved with this knife. I did not find much in our Forum about the 2 concerns.

The ferrule on the mother of pearl handle was made by a different silversmith to the blade maker. Both sets of hallmarks have the standing "lion" mark to guarantee "sterling" 925 standard silver but there are different date letters. We need to sort out the 2 silversmithing concerns and then consider why the blade was made 3 years after handle. 

The blade has "J.L & S" nearly clearly show, in a cigar like cartouche and with the Sheffield assay office "crown" mark. This shows that the the mark is that of James Lewis & Sons who were recorded in: "Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham 1905" and "Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham 1911" at 149 London Road as
                                                  "Spoon & Fork & Electro-plated Goods & Fish Eaters & Carvers Manufacturers"
                            and then just "Spoon & fork manufacturers"

That company had actually registered a silver mark with the Sheffield Assay Office in 1896/97.

 The ferrule to the knife handle has the Sheffield "crown" mark on but the makers mark is "W.W" over "H.G" and this mark was registered to the partnership of "William Watson & Herbert Gillott". They registered the shown mark in 1898 but had in 1896 registered a similar mark but without the pellets (stops) between letters. The marks were registered to the firm at Furnival Street, Sheffield. Sheffield Indexers have several  entries relating to Watson & Gillott.

        Recorded in: Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham in 1905 and 1911
                                                                                  Watson, William Joseph (, silversmith (Watson & Gillott)).
                                                                                  Gillott, Herbert H. (, Cutlery manufacturer (Watson & G. )).

       Recorded in: Sheffield & Rotherham Kelly's Directory  in 1925
                                                                                  WATSON, William Joseph (~, Electro-plate manufacturer (Watson & Gillott)).
                                                                                   GILLOTT, Herbert Heiffor (~, Electro-plate manufacturer (Watson & G.)).

    
I found this summary of Watson & Gillott. "A partnership of William Watson and Herbert Gillott established in 1896. Cutlery manufacturers active at 23 Furnival St, (1897-1899) and Caledonia Plate Works 26 Eyre Lane, Sheffield (1900-1940)"

Back to the date letters now with better images of the of the date letters as present on the separate silver parts of the butter knife.

The ferrule has the stylised "f" for silver assay at Sheffield in 1898 and the blade has the styled "i" for 1901.

Is this evidence of outsourcing in Sheffield in the late Victorian and early Edwardian period? Who was the chicken and who was the egg? Did the blade company, Lewis's make the blade and buy in the ferrule and handle from W&G? Did W&G have the handle with ferrule and buy in the blade? Did a third party buy in all the bits, blade, ferrule and handle and construct the knife themselves or any did any other combination you can think of make it? What do we think?

 Now if silver is not your thing, here are likely examples of W&G electroplate marks or more precisely as they have "BP" on them, Britannia Plate marks. One spoon proudly carries the "Caledonia Silver" trade name  reflecting  W&G's Caledonia Plate Works.

This seems another example of the electroplate trade name being the "Works" name, something to remember when researching.
Kalfred  
 

The knife isn’t a butter knife, butter knives have a broader tip, the tip on this particular knife has a distinctive nick which makes it a fish eater, I’ve had at least hundreds of thousands of these blades through my hands during my days in cutlery production.