Silver Name Card Holders
Silver name card holders keep dining tables orderly and add a distinct touch of formal hospitality.
What they are
Silver name card holders organise dining tables by marking where guests sit, functioning also as menu and table number holders.
The pieces on this page appear in forms such as place card holders, menu holders, and combined menu or name card holders.
They span periods from the Victorian and Edwardian eras through the George VI period and mid-century modern design.
Origins include British military themes alongside figural and silver-plated iterations.
How they were made
Makers fashioned these items using sterling silver, silver plate, and base metal, frequently pairing the metal structure with enamel, leather, or velvet elements.
Artisans employed casting, chasing, and plating techniques to produce figural subjects, architectural sentry boxes, and military insignia.
Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for silver name card holders, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
Listings include items made from sterling silver, silver plate, and base metal, alongside enamel, leather, and velvet.
What varies in quality
Quality rests upon the crispness of the casting in figural or architectural models, where sharp detail distinguishes superior work from softer execution.
The presence of maker marks and intact secondary materials like enamel or velvet elevates the character of a piece.
Asprey London·Sampson Mordan
The Silver Name Card Holders Glossary
- Sterling silver
- A silver alloy containing 92.5 percent pure silver by weight, widely used for high-grade tableware.
- Silver plate
- A base metal foundation coated with a thin layer of silver, offering an alternative to solid silver.
- Edwardian
- The historical period spanning the reign of King Edward VII, noted for refined decorative arts.
- Place card holder
- A small desk or tabletop accessory designed to display a guest name card upright.
- Menu holder
- A tabletop stand intended to hold printed meal menus for diners to read.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are silver name card holders?
These small decorative items support cards on dining tables to indicate seating arrangements or present menu options to guests.
They appear in various figural, architectural, and military designs across multiple historical periods.
How were menu card holders used?
Hosts placed them centrally or at intervals along large dining tables so guests could easily consult the courses for the meal.
They often matched existing silver tableware to create a unified tablescape.
Are these pieces made of solid silver?
Some pieces utilise sterling silver, whilst others consist of silver plate or base metal enhanced with materials like enamel.
Hallmarks and stamps generally indicate the specific metal composition used by the maker.
How do I date an Edwardian piece?
Edwardian items align with the early twentieth century and often feature hallmarks that record the exact assay year.
Stylistic cues such as traditional Edwardian motifs also help identify this specific period.