Highly collectable and capital, Irish metal work has been around since the thirteenth century and although goldsmiths were around in this title practiced is no mention of the actual formation of a guild or company until 1498 and it wasn ' t until 1605 that mention is made of a makers mark or a city mark on a Dublin plate.
The laws for Irish silver were eventually set by Charles I in 1637, in his charter good to the goldsmiths of Dublin he ruled, that no gold or silver was to be of less generosity than the standard of England.
The Irish parliament tightened things further in 1729 with the enactment that plate should be assayed by the assay master and bear the demigod ' s stamp, the harp booming, and the date letter.
An additional fourth stamp was more in 1730, by categorization of the Commissioners of Levy, to denote that the duty had been paid.
Irish Assay Aid
Ireland had 5 main assay backing
1. Dublin The Dublin Assay Office is the only remaining Irish Assay Office in reason today. Up until 1923 the Dublin Assay Office was subjected to the corresponding laws ascendant silver production in England and Scotland. The implementation of the Irish Paper State in 1922 meant that laws were made and governed from Dublin, however the hallmarking system still remained foxy much the equivalent and the convenience of the seated Hibernia figure was retained by the Dublin Assay Office as their Assay mark.
2. Cork The city of Cork has never had a date letter. Before 1715 the city arms ( a boat in full sail between two castles ) was used with the makers mark. Nearest this date however the only mark used at Cork was the talk ' Sterling ' accompanied by the makers initials. However often the word ' sterling ' was replaced with ' Dollar ', the word ' Dollar ' is to inform that the silver was used for plate, much of it being melted down for Spanish silver dollars.
3. New Geneva This small village near Watford assayed items using the harp as their Assay Office mark.
4. Limerick The 17th century saw this Assay Office mark its silver with the fleur de lis.
5. Youghal The 17th century saw this provincial assay office strike items with the town make of a single masted ship.
Finding Collectable Pieces
Many people collect silver by maker of the pieces, some popular makers you may come across when learning about or collecting Irish silver could be;
West & Son - They made some exceptional pieces including Victorian four piece tea services, as well as some fantastic coffee and tea pots throughout the George VI reign. Many of which were made in the popular Queen Anne Style. John Smith - He made pieces from the period of 1871 through to 1911 and mainly focused on loose items of flatware, such as spoons. However he also made some elaborate silver pieces such as Monteith bowls during the Victorian period.
A lot of collectors focus on a particular item instead of the maker. Irish silversmiths make a lot of sauceboats, ladles and flatware, at the smaller end of the scale yet they can then produce the most impressive embossed and highly chased salvers.
Not only is it the maker that can make the piece collectable, with Irish silver it is also where it is assayed. As Dublin is the only Assay office left if you can find pieces which were assayed outside of Dublin then the rarity of these pieces make them also highly collectable as they are very scarce.
Where to find Irish Silver?
If you simply want to view some Irish Silver and find out more about the craft, he National Museum of Ireland showcases one of the largest collections of Irish silver in the world. It also educated you on the assaying, mining and crafting of this precious metal.
However if you are looking at collecting Irish silver pieces you are best speaking to Lapada registered antique dealer and getting their advice on the best pieces to collect, depending on your reasons for collecting.
Andrew Campbell writes article for Acsilver. co. uk about antique sterling silver and diamond jewellery. Andrew Campbell, founder of AC Silver, has been dealing in antique, vintage and contemporary sterling silver, diamond and gemstone jewellery since 1977. Over the years, Andrews passion and interest in high quality items crafted in silver grew, and AC Silver flourished. The now established and internationally recognised online store AC Silver offers customers from all around the world with a wide range of items ranging from coffee and tea pots to bowls, clocks, claret jugs and much more, along with a professional yet personal service. For premium coffeee pots and tea sets, AC Silver is the choice. Find out about antique and vintage silver teapots and coffee sets today.
