Fancy serving fork ~French or English? Maker Please

[JPK]

Thanks for your help with ID on this fork. It weighs 11 1/2 oz. Hope the images are large enough to evaluate. I tought it was French, because of the crab.
Thanks,
Jim

[2209patrick]

Hello and welcome.

The letters EP in the mark to the right stand for ElectroPlated.

Looks like British silverplate marks from before 1897.
The use of the Sheffield crown in a cartouche was banned on silverplate around 1897.
The "crab" mark is just a pseudo mark we often see on British silverplate.

My references don't show those exact WB marks.
With so many possibilities for WB, it is hard to even guess who used them.

Pat.

[JPK]

Thank you for the quick reply. I read the last mark as "EI", as the "P" is not complete (the backward "c" part is missing from the stamp). I would have known electro plate if my eye had picked up on it being "EP". Guess we are always optomistic that fancy things might be sterling!
Jim

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

I've no source to back it up, but I have seen that mark in the past attributed to William Briggs & Co. of Sheffield.

Trev.

[2209patrick]

Hi Trev.

William Briggs is certainly a possibility.
I just don't have any information to confirm that.
If it is his mark it would be an early mark, after he swithched from making "Old Sheffield Plate" (fused plate).

Pat.

[JPK]

Thank you both for your help and the welcome to the site.
I have also posted a question in the English sterling slot.
All The Best,
Jim