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This is electroplate. The manufacturer is Lee & Wigfull of Sheffield. See http://www.925-1000.com/silverplate_L.html

Phil

A pin cushion?

You have missed the second partner's surname off - Shepherd; James Francis Hollings were his first names, a bit of a mouthful so he was normally known as Francis or Frank.

Phil

It's 1959. The hallmark is Chester and WJP is W J Pellow Ltd, a Birmingham company.

Phil

It is worth noting that 1904 is when use of the "F" on imported silver was abolished and Chester changed to using the acorn and leaves symbol, so we see both styles of mark with the script D for 1904.

Phil

Your image is out of focus so the following has an element of guesswork in it.

I think that the marks are: crown for Sheffield, date letter H (sans-serif) for 1875, lion passant for sterling silver, Victoria duty mark and JF for James Fenton, a Birmingham silversmith.

Phil

It certainly looks like a book mark to me. I'm sure Disney have been in business long enough to have produced more than one design of book mark.

Phil

Looks like Thomas Wallis to me. Note that prolific makers like Wallis must have had several punches during their working life, all hand-made so they are bound to vary slightly from one to another.

Phil

Probably just waved it over the brickwork or patted a piece of wet cement, but most likely at least had it in her hand. These things are really just ceremonial so it wouldn't have had any real use.

Phil

You should be aware that London assay years prior to 1975 ran from the end of May so the trowel could have been assayed in May 1908 and still have borne the "m" of 1907. It is certainly "real" and is sterling silver with the maker's/sponsor's mark of Horace Woodward & Co Ltd....

Neither - it's probably Thomas Glaser, a known importer. Note that the date is 1890, not 1790, and that Thomas Glaser is not the maker, just the importer. This is why the mark is more correctly called a sponsor's mark.

Phil

Punches varied, so trying to match duty marks, town marks, etc with known examples is not necessarily straightforward. For me the clincher is the round "blob" at the top of the "c" which shows that it is lower case. Upper case "C" has a pronounced serif.

Phil

I don't think that this is English. Firstly there is no date letter; this is highly unusual but may possibly have happened during the 18th century. However the location of the marks leads me to think that the piercing work is original but stylistically it does not look like the sort of work which wo...

Your salts were actually assayed in the 1818/1819 assay year - that's a lower case "c". Unfortunately there are several I·B marks during that period so it may be impossible to be 100% certain about the silversmith. Possible candidates include: - John Brough, smallworker, registered 7 Aug ...

Your spoons are sterling silver with the town mark (rose) of Sheffield. The Sheffield Assay Office changed from a crown to a rose in 1975 and the date letter G is that for 1981. The sponsor's mark R&B is Roberts & Belk Ltd.

Phil

D&N is Dalman & Narborough Ltd of Lombard Street, Birmingham, but the date is actually 1970 (see the Birmingham Assay Office web site for date letters up to the present day.

Phil

This is almost certainly the HM mark of Henry Matthews: http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Makers/Shared/HM-HMatthews.jpg I believe that the date letter is actually the "v" for 1895 rather than the "b" of 1876. Note the lack of a duty mark which supports the later date. Phil

Douglas Bennett, in "Collecting Irish Silver 1637-1900", shows Cormick's mark as M·C in an oval punch which does not match your mark. Bennett's lists do not, however, show every mark. But I have to ask you why you think this is Irish. I would have expected a full set of Dublin marks, name...

I cannot give you a better date for the Dorothy Langlands spoons - I have noted that more often than not spoons with her mark do not have a date code. Lack of York town mark is no problem for the Barber & Whitwell spoons. The town mark seems to have been applied only rarely so this is the norm. ...

I would also throw Samuel Wood in here. Both Wood's and Welles's marks have similar script lettering with pellet between. Welles's mark is in an oval punch; Wood's mark has a punch whose edges follow the outline of the letters. I cannot be absolutely sure which one it is, but I think that I favour S...

I would also go with John Newton.

Phil