Featured Large Sterling Silver Basket (B'ham, 1899)

I won this, and a little silver scent-bottle at the auction-house yesterday. Never expected to, but I did!



Absolutely stunning. No damage whatsoever. Crisp, clear marks for Pearce & Sons. Measures 10in by 5.5in.

 

shweeeeeeeeeet! Me likey!

 

Very nice!

 

Yipe! Score!

 

Gawgeous!

 

It is rather cute! The challenge now, is finding a good home for it.

 

Beautfiul!

 

I certainly agree it is stunning! With all due respect, the maker's mark is of William Hutton & Son, Ltd. Here is their Birminghan marks:
Scroll about half way down the page:
http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Makers/Birmingham-WH-WK.html#WH

Here are Pearce & Son marks:
P&S about 1/4 down page:
http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Makers/Birmingham-P.html#P&

Pe over Son in a 4 lob stamp, a good 1/2 way down page:
http://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilvermarksXP.html

--- Susan

Your marks:

 

Eh. Pearce & Sons was what was stamped on the base.

PEARCE & SONS
SILVERSMITHS
LEEDS

 

Hmmmm, well then 2 silversmiths, one of Birmingham, Hutton, and one of Leeds, Pearce, made this basket.

--- Susan

 

Perhaps since the assay mark is clearly Hutton and the Pearce firm is only identified underneath and not a registered mark, Pearce was the retailer?

 

My research says P&S was established in 1838, by a Henry Pierce & his three sons, who owned a chain of silversmithing & jewelry shops throughout the UK.

 

I think you nailed it Sue. The following page says Pearce & Son were retailers at least for Atkin Bros and Robert & Belk items.

PEARCE & SONS
Melton Mowbray - Leicestershire
Active at 29 Sherrard Street, Melton Mowbray - Leicestershire. Acting as retailers of Atkin Brother and Roberts & Belk items

Need to scroll down at least 1/2 way on the following page
http://www.silvercollection.it/electroplatesilverNOPtre.html

--- Susan

 

I love/want that basket.

 

Well I am trying to sell it, but I've never tried an international sale before!

 

Same as domestic, just that the buyer may not have an Aussie address.
How/where are you trying to sell it?
If it goes overseas, you will probably have to fill in a customs form at the post office, usually pretty self-explanatory, but if not, they will guide you through that.

 

I'm only selling it locally at the moment. I have thought about putting some things up for sale here in the Forum though. I dunno how successful that stuff is, though?

 

Don't know either. The forum is a small market.
We're on Etsy, for us it is easier than ebay, etc. and Etsy is viewed worldwide. It is not as difficult or formal as it looks, and you don't have to have many items to sell there. We started with one listing and gradually built it from there.

 

You can sell internationally through Ebay and use their global shipping program and they do all the work for you. You just send it to a local hub.

 

I don't know if that applies to Australia, where Shangas is.
We don't have the global shipping program or a local hub here, and Dutch listings don't show outside the Dutch ebay until you have the right amount of stars for good ratings. With a small population, it can take a lifetime to get those stars.
Getting something listed internationally from Australia could pose the same problems.

Etsy doesn't have that restriction, that is why we are there.
They also have a global shipping program for the US, but not for us, so probably not for Australia either. But if you are used to shipping inside Australia, outside shoudn't be a problem.