Antique Sterling Card Clips
These antique sterling card clips and menu holders organise dining tables with silver figures and spring clips.
Antique Sterling Card Clips
When you search for antique sterling card clips, you find small silver tableware accessories designed to hold place cards, menus, or photographs on dining tables. The pieces on this page span the Edwardian period through to the 1930s, incorporating George VI items alongside earlier Edwardian examples.
The selection includes menu holders, place card holders, and folding card cases made of solid silver. Novelty forms dominate the selection, showing figures, animals, and characters rather than plain geometric clips.
Makers produced these items for formal dining, creating pairs and sets to mark seats or list courses. You will encounter figural designs like owls, swans, monkeys, and characters from Alice in Wonderland and Robin Hood.
What varies in quality
The standard of modelling separates standard clips from exceptional figural pieces, particularly in novelty subjects like animals and literary characters. Castings with clear facial details and crisp feather or fur rendering command attention from collectors.
Completeness alters the appeal of a set, as matched pairs and sets of four retain higher utility and uniformity than single surviving items. Original fitted boxes also add context to the pieces.
DINING COMPANIONS: A tiny silver monkey playing drums holds your dinner menu with absolute concentration.
Levi & Salaman·A. Wilcox·Grey & Co.·Sampson Mordan·Asprey
The Antique Sterling Card Clips Glossary
- Sterling silver
- A silver alloy containing 92.5 percent pure silver and 7.5 percent other metals, usually copper. This standard provides the durability required for functional clips and table ornaments.
- Menu holder
- A weighted table accessory fitted with a clip to display the meal selection for guests. They match place card holders in design and period style.
- Place card holder
- A small desk or table accessory designed to stand upright and hold a guest name card. These items often mirror the novelty themes found on menu clips.
- Assay office
- An official body that tests the purity of precious metals and stamps items with hallmarks. Marks from Birmingham, Chester, and London appear on these pieces.
- Guilloche enamel
- A decorative technique where enamel is applied over engine-turned metalwork. This creates geometric patterns visible beneath a translucent coloured surface.
Antique Sterling Card Clips: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a menu holder and a card clip?
Menu holders stand upright on heavy bases to display meal lists for diners.
Card clips and place card holders serve a similar function on a smaller scale for guest names.
How do you clean antique silver card clips?
Use a soft cloth and mild silver cleaner to remove tarnish from the sterling surfaces.
Avoid harsh abrasives that can wear away fine cast details or damage enamel work.
Were these items sold individually or in sets?
Silversmiths produced these table accessories as single pieces, pairs, or matched sets of four.
Sets often came housed in fitted presentation boxes lined with velvet or silk.