Antique Silver Items
These antique silver items bring functional elegance to a desk or dressing table, offering lasting metalwork from past centuries.
Antique Silver Items
Antique silver items encompass a diverse array of small functional objects, desk accessories, and personal belongings made primarily from sterling silver. When exploring these pieces, collectors encounter various domestic and personal artefacts ranging from Georgian nutmeg graters to Edwardian novelty pin cushions.
The selection on this page leans heavily towards small decorative desk items, sewing accessories, and novelty pieces shaped as animals or everyday objects. These smaller items survive in good numbers because owners treasured them as desk ornaments or vanity accessories.
How they were made
Silversmiths utilised sterling silver alongside secondary materials such as velvet, silk, steel, leather, wood, and paper in composite objects like desk sets and prayer books. Metal components were cast, hammered, or chased, then assembled with non-silver elements like glass, amber, or coquilla nut.
Makers applied punches and hallmarks directly to the silver surface to record the assay office, date letter, and maker's mark. Novelty pieces often required intricate hinged compartments and delicate modelling to resemble chairs, ducks, or coal scuttles.
Antique Silver Items Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for silver items among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
One exceptional Edwardian silver piece takes the literal form of a miniature wheelbarrow designed entirely to hold sewing pins.
What varies in quality
Quality in these items rests on the crispness of the chasing, the legibility of the hallmarks, and the ingenuity of the design. Superior novelty pieces maintain realistic proportions and smooth mechanical actions in items like vesta cases or mechanical desk bells.
The integration of secondary materials, such as fitted glass inserts or intact velvet linings, influences the overall integrity of the piece. Crisp detailing on cast figures and well-preserved maker marks separate standard production items from finer workshop examples.
Crisford & Norris·John Rawlings·John Smith·George Unite·Asprey·Cartier
The Antique Silver Items Glossary
- Sterling silver
- A standard alloy of silver comprising parts by weight of pure silver and parts by weight of other metals, usually copper. This alloy provides the durable material seen across Victorian and Edwardian desk accessories.
- Vesta case
- A small pocket box fitted with a striking surface, designed to hold wax matches. These containers often take novelty animal forms in late Victorian silver.
- Pounce pot
- A small perforated container used to sprinkle sand or gum sandarac over freshly written ink to dry it. They appear alongside desk seals and page turners.
- Pin cushion
- A padded small object designed to hold pins, frequently rendered in novelty shapes like chairs, pigs, and wheelbarrows during the Edwardian period.
Antique Silver Items: Frequently Asked Questions
What are novelty silver items?
Novelty silver items are small functional objects cast or shaped into amusing forms, such as animals, furniture, or household equipment. Silversmiths produced these playful pieces primarily during the Victorian and Edwardian periods for desk use or personal adornment.
Collectors prize them for their inventive designs and miniature detail. Common examples include pin cushions shaped like pigs or ducks, and vesta cases formed as boars.
How do I identify the date of silver?
British silver typically bears a series of hallmarks that indicate the assay office, the standard of silver, and a specific date letter. Examining these small stamped letters allows you to determine the exact year the item was hallmarked.
Additional clues include stylistic markers, such as the heavy ornamentation of Victorian pieces or the clean geometric lines associated with Art Deco design.
How were desk accessories used?
Desk accessories served practical functions in correspondence and record-keeping before the widespread use of modern office machinery. Items like page turners, letter openers, pounce pots, and stamp cases kept writing desks organised and efficient.
Wealthy households and offices commissioned these items in solid silver to project status and durability. Today, they function as decorative desktop objects or collector's display pieces.
What is a pounce pot used for?
A pounce pot was used by writers to sprinkle fine powder over handmade paper before writing to smooth the surface, or after writing to absorb excess ink. The shaker top allowed the powder to flow evenly across the page.
These containers became obsolete as blotting paper gained popularity in the nineteenth century. Surviving examples remain sought-after components of antique desk sets.