Sterling Silver Shooting Trophy with Inscription, 1855

• 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.
• Faceting - Faceting is a technique of removing material from a curved surface, to give a series of flat surfaces but retaining the profile of the original surface.
  
  The technique is most commonly associated with diamond cutting where the various cuts used such as rose cut and brilliant cut, add life and sparkle to the stone, whilst at the same time removing as little of the stone as possible.
  
  Faceting by grinding is also used to decorate glass. The stems of many drinking glasses are decorated by cutting a series of flat surfaces on a circular stem, and hollow vessels such as vases may have faceted surfaces.
  
  In furniture faceting is often applied to legs of tables and chairs, where a circular baluster shaped section is flattened so as to form an octagonal section.
• 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.
• Cartouche - An ornamental panel in the form of of a shield, oval or rectangular scroll with curling edges. It may be carved into the back of a chair or the top of a sideboard, or present on a piece of silver or jewellery, and contain the initials of the original owner, heraldic symbols, or some other inscription, such as the details of a presentation.
  
  In ceramics the term defines the central area of a vase or similar with a decorative border in one of the shapes above, into which a decorative scene or figures have been painted.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Christening and baptismal mugs and cups - silver items 332
• cups, presentation and trophies - silver items 439