A beautiful and ornate silver plated 6 place setting fish cutlery set manufactured by Harrison Brothers & Howson, Sheffield.
Thomas Sansom, plate worker at Norfolk Street, Sheffield, entered his mark at Sheffield Assay Office on December 22, 1808. Later the business was continued as Thomas Sansom & Sons, in partnership with his sons Abraham, John and William Sansom. In 1847 the business was acquired by James William Harrison, Henry Harrison and James William Howson, acting as Harrison Brothers & Howson. James William Harrison retired in 1876 and the business was continued by his partners. Later they were joined in the partnership by George Hawson (son of J.W. Howson), Francis William Harrison (son of Henry Harrison) and John Brocksopp Wilkinson (nephew of J.W. Harrison). From 1892 the activity was continued by George Hawson, F.W. Harrison and J.B. Wilkinson. The firm was originally active at 67 Norfolk Street, Sheffield (1866-1896), expanding to Shoreham Street Works (1880) and to a new factory in Carver Street (1901). Harrison Brothers & Howson opened its London showrooms at 11 Hatton Garden (1866) and 43-44 Holborn Viaduct (1885), moving to Regent Arcade House, 19-25 Aryle Street (1941).
The trademark was taken over by Viners of Sheffield in 1923. The firm used the trade mark Alpha Plate, Beacon Plate, Halphroid and Lustrous. Later, the firm ceased its activity and the brand of Harrison Brothers & Howson was revived in 1978, under the style of Harrison Brothers & Howson Ltd, a subsidiary of Ben J. Dix of London Ltd.
All the items in this set are beautifully decorated with scroll etchings on the blades of the knives as well as on the forks. In addition the items are all beautifully marked with a weapon on the handles with mantra “true to the end”.
The knives are stamped HB&H S, and the Forks are stamped HB & H *.
Due to the age of these items, you can see cracks in some of the handles as well as some fading of the weapons on the baldes, this however adds to the beautiful character of the set. It is still in very good usable condition and requires a good polish.
Length of knives: 22.5 cm, Width of blade at widest point: 2.2 cm
Length of forks: 19.5 cm, Width of prongs: 2 cm
