Rare Ornate Antique Victorian (1866) English Elkington Silver Plated Tea Set

Rare Ornate Antique Victorian (1866) English Elkington Silver Plated F our Piece Tea Set. This tea set has hardly ever been used and it is in superb condition.

Needs to be seen and handled to be fully appreciated as the photographs attached really do not do it justice. Excellent quality as you'd expect from an Elkington set.

Please browse all 12 sets of photographs attached for size, weight and condition as they are self explanatory. Work of master silversmiths of the highest order. The hallmarks on these items date them back to exactly 1866. With Elkington items, generally, the presence of a crown in the mark dates them to before 1895 as from this year in they omitted the crown from the hallmark.

The date letter "D" dates these to exactly 1866. Well over 150 years old and in remarkable condition. Are one of the most important names in English silver and certainly the most important in silver plate.

They began life in Birmingham by George Elkington as a company of silversmiths in 1836, and experimented with improving gilding techniques. By 1838 they had discovered and patented a new way to electroplate one metal on to the surface of another.

By 1840 production was already underway with silver electroplated wares. The company received financial backing from Josiah Mason in 1842 (renaming the firm Elkington, Mason & Co between 1842 and 1861) and was extremely successful. It introduced electrotyping as a new method of production for silver plated items. Elkington & Co exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 with enormous success. Elkington design, circa 1860 Elkington by Dresser design Elkington Royal Warrant. In 1885 Elkington registered designs by Christopher Dresser. Dresser's designs included tea services, sugar bowls, claret jugs, kettles, cruet stands, baskets, a tureen and a tankard.

His models are recorded in Elkington's silver and plated ware pattern-books. Elkington held Royal Warrants for Queen Victoria, King Edward VI, King George V, King Edward VIII and King George VI. Name is still in use today as manufacturers under the auspices of British Silverware Ltd.

ELKINGTON AT THE 1851 GREAT EXHIBITION. Elkington partecipated in the Metalware section of the 1851 Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park in London in the specially constructed Crystal Palace.