Burnell and Rowe

Description

Here we have a fine quality late Victorian Sterling Silver Pencil Box. The box is oblong with rounded ends and wrythen decoration all around the body. The lid has an embossed design featuring a fox and geese amidst trees, flowers and scrolls. The central cartouche has the ghost of a monogram or initials engraved on it but this has been so polished over the years that it is no longer readable.

The pencil box was made in Birmingham by silversmith Samuel Walton Smith and dates to 1889. Samuel Walton Smith registered his first mark at Goldsmith’s Hall in London in 1882, followed by marks registered in Birmingham (1887) and Chester (1889). His firm manufactured in both London and Birmingham producing tableware, desk items, smoking accessories and candlesticks. They became S.W. Smith & Co in late 1900 and remained in business into at least the late 1920s.

Condition is very good, with just one small, shallow crease at one end of the lid plus the superficial surface wear that you would expect after around 135 years of good service. Please make sure to view all the photographs.

The pencil box is 17.5cm / 6.9ins long, 3.7cm / 1.4ins wide and stands 3cm / 1.2ins high. It weighs in at a very substantial 152.2g / 5.37oz of solid Sterling Silver.

The hallmarks, on the underside of the base, are well struck and clear to read. They show the lion passant for Sterling Silver, the anchor assay mark for Birmingham, the Gothic date letter p for 1889, the Queen Victoria duty mark and the S.W.S makers' mark for Samuel Walton Smith. The inside of the lid is marked with the Queen Victoria duty mark and the date letter p.

Shipping in the UK is £11 by Royal Mail Special Delivery, which includes cover for the value of the pencil box.
Overseas customers, please ask us about shipping costs to your country before making a purchase.