Edwardian Sterling Silver Presentation Tray with South African Historical Inscription

Large Edwardian sterling silver presentation tray, with South…
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Large Edwardian sterling silver presentation tray, with South African interest, hallmarked Birmingham, 1903, Hm (Henry Matthews), of rectangular form with twin acanthus handles, decorated with gadrooned border and cast acanthus and floral accents to each corner, with central inscription reading 'Presented to//Mrs C.W.Giovanetti//Mayoress of Pretoria//1915-1920//by the women of Pretoria', surrounded by heavily engraved acanthus, c-scroll and floral border, raised on four ball feet, total weight 2388gm, 65.5 cm x 38.5 cm. Provenance: this sterling silver tray and accompanying tea service were used for a 21st birthday morning tea held for Queen Elizabeth II in 1946. Previously owned by the Mayoress of Pretoria, M.Giovanetti, then by family descent. Private Collection, Sydney.

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  • Edwardian - The Edwardian period of English furniture and decorative arts design is named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910. It follows the Victorian period, in turn was followed by the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. In Australia, designs of this period are also known as being in the Federation style.
  • Acanthus - A stylized leaf motif, one of the primary decorative elements of classical Greek and Roman architecture, derived from the genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Mediterranean area. It is a common element in classical Greek and Roman design, and is often seen in Corinthian and Composite order columns and used as a decorative element in English, European and Australian furniture, particularly on the curve of a leg, and as decoration for a corbel.
  • Gadrooning - A series of lobes usually as a border. In furniture gadrooning is found as carved decoration around the edges of table tops in the Chippendale and Jacobean style furniture. Gadrooning is also found as decoration on the rims of silver and ceramics.
  • Engraving - The method of decorating or creating inscriptions on silver and other metal objects by marking the surface with a sharp instrument such as a diamond point or rotating cutting wheel.
  • Hmss / Hms / Hm - An abbreviation for "hallmarked sterling silver".
  • Hallmarks - A mark stamped on articles of precious metals in Britain, since the 14th century, certifying their purity. It derives its name from the Guild Hall of the Goldsmiths' Company, who recieved its Charter in 1327 giving it the power to assay (test the purity) and mark articles of gold and silver.

    The hallmark will consist of several marks, including the:

    - silver standard mark, indicating the purity of the metal. Sterling silver is .925 pure silver.

    - the city mark indicating the city in which it was assayed eg London, Birmingham, York etc.

    - the date mark, usually a letter of the alphabet in a particular font and case,

    - a duty mark, indicating whether duty had been paid to the crown, and only in use from 1784 to 1890

    The piece may include an additional mark, the maker's mark, although not forming part of the hallmark, will be located in the vicinity of the hallmarks.

    Sometimes silver plated items will bear faux hallmarks, often confusing those not familiar with silver markings.
  • Sterling Silver - Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver, and is relatively soft and the addition of the very small amount of copper gives the metal enough strength and hardness to be worked into jewellery, decorative and household objects.

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