Silversmiths

Adams, George

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1840 — 1883

William Chawner II’s son-in-law who took over Chawner & Co. with his mother-in-law Mary Chawner. He took over the firm and registered his first mark in 1840. He was an exhibitor at the 1851 Great Exhibition and the company became one of the largest producers of quality silver flatware in Victorian England.

Austin Sayre, David

Silversmiths
United States

1793 — 1870

David Austin Sayre (March 12, 1793 - September, 1870) was a prominent silversmith, banker and educator. Sayre is best remembered as founder of Sayre Female Institute.

Bateman, Hester

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1708 — 1794

The most famous woman silversmith, Bateman was the widow of John Bateman. After his death in 1760, she took over his London-based metalwork business and transformed it into one of the most successful and prolific silversmithing workshops in London. Hester and her sons were known for their bright-cut engraving, thin-line beading and piercing.

Buccellati, Mario

Silversmiths
Italy

1891 — 1965

Founded in 1919 when Mario Buccellati took over Milan’s Beltrami & Beltrami, Buccellati is known for its richly textured pieces that are influenced by Renaissance motifs and nature. He was the first famous for the technique of texture-engraving where pieces look like silk, damask, tulle, lace, or linen. Use of mixed metals and unusual gemstones is also typical. Buccellati quickly gained international…

Chawner, William

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1797 — 1834

Flatware-making is one of the sub-specialties of silversmithing. In the 18th and 19th century the vast majority of spoons and forks were made by specialist “spoon makers” (knives were made by an entirely different tradesman called a cutler). The Chawner family was one of England’s dominant producers of silver flatware in the 19th century. William Chawner II began a seven-year spoon-making apprenticeship…

Christofle, Charles

Silversmiths
France

1805 — 1863

Charles Christofle founded the company that bears his name in 1830. Originally a jeweler, he bought the patents silver plating and electrolytic gilding of gold in 1842. As a goldsmith, he transformed ceremonial items and everyday objects: from jewelry to cutlery, gold smithery to sculptures, and decorative objects to tableware. This is how silver came to be an integral player in art of living today. Charles…

Christofle, Charles

Silversmiths
France

1805 — 1863

Maison Christofle officially opened as a jeweller in Paris in 1830 as a partnership between Charles Christofle and his brother-in-law, Joseph Albert Bouilhet. In 1840, Charles acquired the rights to electroplating. Traditional silver- and gold-plating methods were expensive and time consuming so this timed perfectly with the French bourgeoisie’s hunger for the luxuries already enjoyed by the aristocracy.…

de Lamerie, Paul

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1688 — 1751

Paul de Lamerie (9 April 1688 – 1 August 1751) was a London-based silversmith. The Victoria and Albert Museum describes him as the "greatest silversmith working in England in the 18th century". Though his mark raises the market value of silver, his output was large and not all his pieces are outstanding. The volume of work bearing de Lamerie's mark makes it almost certain that he subcontracted orders…

Elkington Kingston & Co.

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1830

Brothers George Richards and Henry started G. R. Elkington & Co in the 1830s. The firm then operated independently as Elkington & Co. for over 100 years. In 1840 Elkington & Co. patented the electrolytic process for silver plating that is still in use today and they expanded at an incredible rate. By 1865 Elkington had over 1000 employees. Elkington & Co employed top designers and won…

Garrard & Co.

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1735

Originally founded in 1735 by royal silversmith George Wickes, the firm was eventually taken over by Robert Garrard in partnership with John Wakelin in 1792. Garrard had many aristocratic patrons and was represented at numerous international exhibitions including the Great Exhibition of 1851. Garrard was the Crown Jeweller for six successive monarchs from 1843 to 2007. Their commissions have included…

Gorham Manufacturing Co.

Silversmiths
United States

1831

Established in 1831 in Rhode Island, as a coin-silver flatware and jewelery manufacturer, Gorham eventually became one of the largest silversmiths in the world. By the late 1860s, they grossed $1 million in sales per year. Gorham was tremendously successful with flatware patterns like Chantilly, patented in 1895 and it remains one of the most popular flatware patterns today. Their crowning achievement…

Henry Birk & Sons

Silversmiths
Canada

1879

Birks was by far the largest and most influential Canadian silversmith in the 20th century. Henry Birks & Company was established in Montreal in 1879 as a retail jeweler. It became Henry Birks & Sons in 1893 when his three sons joined the business. In 1897 Birks bought out Hendery & Leslie, their largest supplier of silverware, and began manufacturing their own products. Birks manufactured…

HUNT & ROSKELL

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

A manufacturing firm, retail jewellers and silversmiths founded by Paul Storr in 1819 as Storr & Co. John Samuel Hunt, who had assisted Storr from the start, continued as a partner until his death in 1865 when he was succeeded by his son, John Hunt. Robert Roskell joined in 1844 and remained in the firm until his death in 1888. Hunt & Roskell were silversmiths and jewellers to Queen Victoria.

Hunt, John

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1785 — 1865

Jensen, Georg

Silversmiths
Denmark

1866 — 1935

Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife grinder in the town of Raadvad just to the north of Copenhagen. Jensen began his training in goldsmithing at the age of 14 in Copenhagen. His apprenticeship with the firm Guldsmed Andersen, ended in 1884, and this freed Georg to follow his artistic interests. In 1884 he became a journeyman and in 1887 he enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts,…

Lamerie, Paul de

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1713 — 1751

Mappin & Webb

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1775

In 1775, teenager Jonathan Mappin started a small cutlery workshop in Sheffield. Within a year the first Mappin hallmark was recorded at the assay office. But it was under his four great-grandsons who incorporated the business as Mappin Brothers Ltd in the middle of the 19th century. In 1963 Mappin & Webb amalgamated with British Silverware Ltd together with Elkington & Co Ltd and Walker &…

Mappin, Johnathan

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1737 — 1801

Mills, Nathaniel

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1784 — 1843

Nathaniel Mills & Sons were 19th century Birmingham silversmiths who excelled in making silver boxes, snuff boxes and visiting card cases. Nathaniel Mills, the Elder, was a partner in Mills & Langston, Northwood Jewelers when he registered his first mark in 1803. In 1825, he registered his well-known now punch mark 'N.M' within a rectangle at the Birmingham Assay Office and concentrated on…

Odiot, Jean-Baptiste-Claude

Silversmiths
France

1763 — 1850

The House of Odiot was founded in 1690 by Jean-Baptiste Gaspard Odiot but rose to prominence under Jean-Baptiste Claude, Gaspard’s grandson. Jean-Baptiste Claude was influenced by classical Greek and Egyptian motifs as expressed in the Directoire and Empire styles.Odiot purchased many of Henry Auguste’s models and designs following the 1809 bankruptcy of the neoclassical silversmith. Along with…

Platel, Pierre

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1664 — 1719

Poul Peterson, Carl

Silversmiths
Canada

1895 — 1977

According to his family history, Carl Poul Petersen apprenticed at Georg Jensen in Denmark before emigrating to Canada in 1929. He worked at Henry Birks and Sons in Montreal but he also set up a studio for commission work in the late thirties. Petersen left Birks and opened his permanent studio in 1944 and registered his company, C.P. Petersen & Sons two years later. Unlike Birks, Petersen’s…

Price, Arthur

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1865 — 1936

Puiforcat, Jean

Silversmiths
France

1897 — 1945

Jean Puiforcat served in WW1. After the war, he apprenticed as a silversmith and a designer. He lived in Paris. He designed in the art deco style. His silver work had smooth surfaces and was based on the geometric series. Ivory, onyx, lapis lazuli and rosewood were used to decorate pieces. He also used gilding. Puiforcat left Paris and moved to Saint Jean de-Luz, around 1927. He worked briefly in Havana,…

Puiforcat, Jean

Silversmiths
France

1897 — 1945

Founded in Paris in 1820 by Louis-Victor and Emile Puiforcat and their cousin, Puiforcat rose to fame as one of the great French silversmiths. The Puiforcat collection features outstanding designs ranging from classical through Art Deco to modern design. Many of the works were recreated from Louis-Victor’s own 18th-century collection of hollowware and flatware pieces. It was Jean E. Puiforcat, however,…

Revere, Paul

Silversmiths
United States

1735 — 1818

Paul Revere (December 21, 1734 – May 10, 1818]) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, and Patriot in the American Revolution. He is best known for his midnight ride to alert the colonial militia in April, 1775 to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride" (1861). At age…

Robert Hennel & Sons

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1800

Hennell of Bond Street is one of London’s oldest silversmiths and jewellers. It was founded by David Hennell and originally made fashionable silverware for the nobility and landed gentry. David’s son, Robert I, is known for his fine neoclassical silver, often with bright cut engraving. His son, grandson and great-grandson (Roberts all) carried on the business throughout the 19th century.

Sani, Atsidi

Silversmiths
United States

1830 — 1918

Sani played an important role in the history of Navajo silversmithing. He is known by many to be the first Navajo silversmith, although his main focus was in blacksmithing; working with iron. Many agree that he learned silversmithing in the year 1853. According to Navajo tribal leader, Chee Dodge, Sani must have learned to work iron around the age of 25. Dodge knew Sani personally. In fact, he used…

Schofield, John

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1776 — 1796

Sequoyah aka George Guess

Silversmiths
United States

1767 — 1843

Sequoyah (ᏍᏏᏉᏯ Ssiquoya, as he signed his name, or ᏎᏉᏯ Se-quo-ya, as is often spelled in Cherokee; named in English George Gist or George Guess) (c.1770–1843), was an American and Cherokee polymath. In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible. This was one of the very few times in recorded history that a member…

Singer, Tommy

Silversmiths
United States

1940 — 2014

Tommy Singer (born 1940; death May 31, 2014) was a Navajo silversmith who specialized in chip-inlay jewelry. He died in a motorcycle accident on May 31, 2014. His inlaid turquoise, coral, and silver pieces incorporated traditional Navajo designs. Singer gained acclaim as the originator of the chip inlay design which he developed in the 1970s. Singer was a member of the Navajo Nation from Winslow, Arizona.…

Storr, Paul

Silversmiths
United Kingdom

1770 — 1844

Paul Storr was England's most celebrated silversmith during the first half of the nineteenth century. His pieces historically, and currently, adorn royal palaces and the finest stately homes throughout Europe and the world. Storr's reputation rests on his mastery of the grandiose neo-Classical style developed in the Regency period. He quickly became the most prominent silversmith of the nineteenth…

Tiffany & Co.

Silversmiths
United States

1837

America’s most famous silversmith from the mid 19th to early 20th century. The company began in 1837 when Charles Lewis Tiffany and John Young opened Tiffany & Young. In 1851, Tiffany became the first American firm to introduce the .925 English Sterling Standard in American-made silver. The name changed to Tiffany & Company in 1853 when Charles Tiffany took over management. Renowned American…

Silversmiths

Adams, George

Austin Sayre, David

Bateman, Hester

Buccellati, Mario

Chawner, William

Christofle, Charles

Christofle, Charles

de Lamerie, Paul

Elkington Kingston & Co.

Garrard & Co.

Gorham Manufacturing Co.

Henry Birk & Sons

HUNT & ROSKELL

Hunt, John

Jensen, Georg

Lamerie, Paul de

Mappin & Webb

Mappin, Johnathan

Mills, Nathaniel

Odiot, Jean-Baptiste-Claude

Platel, Pierre

Poul Peterson, Carl

Price, Arthur

Puiforcat, Jean

Puiforcat, Jean

Revere, Paul

Robert Hennel & Sons

Sani, Atsidi

Schofield, John

Sequoyah aka George Guess

Singer, Tommy

Storr, Paul

Tiffany & Co.

Willaume, David