Handsome silver handled knife & fork, LAW of Sheffield circa 1780

$565.00 AUD

Handsome silver handled knife & fork, the pistol grips with shell moulding to the ends, petal moulding up the sides, and a shell at the tang, the knife with a scimitar blade with double back curve, stamped ‘LAW’, the silver stamped ‘LAW’ and ‘D’AR/GENT’.
Circa 1780

Knife: 20.7cm L, 2cm W. Fork: 18cm L, 2cm W
some losses to silver

ref. Peter Brown ‘British Cutlery’ p109 for an identical pair, although in an early version of Old Sheffield with a copper base showing through. These he dates to 1760; our example has nice hallmarks allowing a more specific date. Thomas Law was a Sheffield cutler, recorded as commencing in 1758 by Bradbury in his ‘Old Sheffield Plate’ book. Other sources point out is first registered mark being 1773; circa 1780 seems best when comparing to other marked examples.
The usual addition to a LAW mark is STER/LING to show it is silver; these have D’AR/GENT suggesting they were intended as export pieces for France.

In stock