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Hello, I have a 4 piece set of silver over copper consisting of two 6 inch tall shakers with small holes in the plug style tops, and two 3.75 inch tall cups, all matching and decorated with Rams heads, also on the base of each is an engraved Castle style Tower. Were these shakers for salt? and what would the cups have been used for? The mark is a diamond with a Cock or Rooster within.
I haven't been able to find any definitive info on these or if the engraved tower has a significance. Any idea of Age and origin?
Any help will be great appreciated, Thank you in advance.

Hi,

Great pieces!

I'm thinking that your items are French in origin. A lot of low-end Sheffield Plated type pieces were imported from France into the UK during the period 1820-40. This is backed up by use of the 'Cock' mark, that very loosely resembles French standard marks in use at this time. It was only the low-end items that were imported as English manufacturers were producing high quality wares and were also exporting their output to all of Europe.

As for there use, is it possible that the two smaller pieces have lost their tops? I guess their use would have been for spices and peppers that were popular condiments used at the Georgian dining table.

If you make a seperate post with the crest image in the 'Family Crests' forum, you will hopefully get an answer there regarding the family name that once owned these pieces.

Trev.