George Adams Furniture

A superb and rare complete Elizabeth II walnut cased, 117 piece, twelve place canteen of flatware cutlery, in the elegant Kings pattern, retailed by Harrods Knightsbridge London and bearing hallmarks for Sheffield, 1963 and the makers mark of  Gee & Holmes. Comprising: twelve table forks, twelve dessert forks, twelve dessert spoons, twelve soup spoons, twelve teaspoons, twelve fish knives with silver blades twelve fish forks with silver tines, twelve table forks, twelve dessert knives six table spoons three piece fork set  All contained in the original superb fitted walnut canteen box with hinged lid and a single fitted drawer and custom fitted in blue felt. It bears the label "Harrods Ltd Cutlers & Silversmiths, Knightsbridge, S.W." This is the complete set, it is highly unusual to find such a nice patterned set with not even a single piece missing! Condition: In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 19 cm x Width 50 cm x Depth 35.5 cm  - Canteen case Weight 5.44 kg Dimensions in inches: Height 7 inches x Width 1 foot, 8 inches x Depth 1 foot, 2 inches - Canteen case Weight 175 troy oz Harrods founder Charles Henry Harrod first established his business in 1824, aged 25. The business was located south of the River Thames in Southwark. The premises were located at 228 Borough High Street. He ran this business, variously listed as a draper, mercer and a haberdasher, certainly until 1831. During 1825 the business was listed as 'Harrod and Wicking, Linen Drapers, Retail', but this partnership was dissolved at the end of that year. His first grocery business appears to be as ‘Harrod & Co.Grocers’ at 163 Upper Whitecross Street, Clerkenwell, E.C.1., in 1832. In 1834 in London's East End, he established a wholesale grocery in Stepney, at 4, Cable Street, with a special interest in tea. In 1849, to escape the vice of the inner city and to capitalise on trade to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in nearby Hyde Park, Harrod took over a small shop in the district of Brompton, on the site of the current store. Beginning in a single room employing two assistants and a messenger boy, Harrod's son Charles Digby Harrod built the business into a thriving retail operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruit and vegetables. Harrods rapidly expanded, acquired the adjoining buildings, and employed one hundred people by 1880. However, the store's booming fortunes were reversed in early December 1883, when it burnt to the ground. Remarkably, in view of this calamity, Charles Harrod fulfilled all of his commitments to his customers to make Christmas deliveries that year—and made a record profit in the process. In short order, a new building was built on the same site, and soon Harrods extended credit for the first time to its best customers, among them Oscar Wilde,Lillie Langtry, Ellen Terry, Charlie Chaplin, Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Sigmund Freud, A. A. Milne, and many members of the British Royal Family.  On Wednesday, 16 November 1898, Harrods debuted England's first "moving staircase" (escalator) in their Brompton Road stores; the device was actually a woven leather conveyor belt-like unit with a wood and "silver plate-glass" balustrade. Nervous customers were offered brandy at the top to revive them after their 'ordeal'. The department store was purchased by the Fayed brothers in 1985. In 2010 Harrods was sold to Qutar Holdings.  Harrods was the holder of royal warrants from 1910 till 2000 from the following: * Queen Elizabeth II (Provisions and Household Goods) * The Duke of Edinburgh (Outfitters) * The Prince of Wales (Outfitters and Saddlers) * The late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (China and Glass) The store occupies a 5-acre (20,000 m2) site and has over one million square feet (90,000 m2) of selling space in over 330 departments making it the biggest department store in Europe. The UK's second-biggest shop, Selfridges, Oxford Street, is a little over half the size with 540,000 square feet (50,000 m2) of selling space, while the third largest, Allders of Croydon had 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of retail space. By comparison Europe's second-largest department store the KaDeWe in Berlin has a retail space of 650,000 square feet (60,000 m2). GEE & HOLMES LTD This enterprise can be traced to the registration of Thomas Raynes Ltd as a private limited company in 1935.   Capitalised at £1,000, it was based at 39 Eyre Street, and dealt in cutlery and various tools.  The subscribers were brothers: James Fairclough Gee (1899-1974) and Reginald L. Gee (1913-?).    They had been born at St Helens, Lancashire, the sons of James Gee (1868-1948) – an insurance superintendent – and his wife, Agnes née Fairclough.  In 1939, James and Reginald Gee were living with their parents at 47 Brooklands Crescent.  They were described in the Register of England & Wales (1939) as cutlery manufacturers.  Also residing at Brooklands Crescent (62) was Leonard Wycliffe Holmes (1901-1989), his wife Florence, and their son, James Geoffrey (1932-1985).  Leonard had been born in Sheffield, the son of John Clement Holmes (a steel and iron turner) and his wife, Bertha née Shelton.  Leonard apparently received a technical education, as in 1920 he co-presented a paper on electro-plating  at Mappin Hall.  He held an Associateship in Metallurgy from Sheffield University (Sheffield Daily Independent, 19 November 1920).  Leonard and Florence had been married at a Wadsley Church in 1927: she was the sister of James F. Gee.  In 1939, Leonard was working as a commercial traveller in cutlery.   During the Second World War, Thomas Raynes Ltd was listed at 41 Arundel Street – the same address as cutlery manufacturer, L. Holmes & Co.   The Hawley Collection has a stainless table knife marked ‘L. Holmes & Co’, which was probably made at this time.   Thomas Raynes Ltd became the vehicle for a new business entity – Gee & Holmes Ltd – which initially occupied 41 Arundel Street.  In an advertisement in 1946, the partners announced that they would be moving into a new factory at 61 Eyre Lane in early 1947.  The two-storey factory, which became known as Heritage Works, was bounded by Eyre Lane and Newton Lane.  Gee and Holmes...

Hallmarked in Sheffield in 1897 by George Howson, this Victorian, Antique Sterling Silver Fish Set, is in the King Husk pattern. Eac...

Old Master brings together the finest in traditional Early Victorian design motifs with skillful artistry. The crown of leaves, the center rosette, scrollwork, flutes and the violin-...

An exceptional, fine and impressive antique Victorian English sterling silver straight single struck Fiddle, Thread & Shell pattern flatware service for 12 persons made by George Adams; an addition to our canteen of cutlery collection The pieces of this exceptional, antique Victorian straight* sterling silver flatware service for 12 persons have been crafted in the Fiddle, Thread and Shell pattern. The surface of each handle is embellished with a paralleling thread decorated border accented with a shell design to the terminal and reverse of each bowl. The anterior surface of each spoon and fork handle terminal are ornamented with a contemporary engraved crest of a leopard couchant guardant and collared. The posterior surface of each piece is plain and unembellished, apart from a rounded heel to the bowl of each spoon. This single struck Fiddle Thread and Shell pattern flatware set consists of 48 pieces: 12 Table forks 12 Table spoons 12 Dessert forks 12 Dessert spoons Each piece of this service has been crafted by the collectable, renowned silversmith and flatware maker George Adams of Chawner & Co in 1842. This antique silver service...

A total of 35 pieces of early Victorian sterling silver English flatware by George Adams, London, dated 1878 in a very rare pattern. Ornately decorated an...

An execptional, fine and impressive antique Victorian English straight sterling silver King's pattern flatware service for ten persons; an addition to our canteen of cutlery collection The pieces of this fine, antique Victorian straight* sterling silver cutlery service for ten persons have been crafted in King's pattern. The anterior surface of each piece incorporates the engraved initials 'HCD'. The reverse of each spoon and fork features a union shell and diamond heel in addition to convex shell ornamentation to the terminal. This Kings pattern cutlery service consists of 40 pieces: 10 Table forks 10 Dessert forks 10 Dessert spoons 10 Teaspoons The components of this antique service have been crafted by the collectable, renowned silversmith Charles Boyton II in 1868; the components will have been crafted in the same year but due to the hallmarking system the items are struck with the date letters m and n. This flatware service can be purchased with King's pattern knives if desired; for further information please contact Andrew Campbell directly. This impressive Kings pattern cutlery is supplied in felt cutlery rolls; which not only protect the items in storage but significantly reduces tarnishing. * "Straight" means all the pieces are made by the same maker in the same year. Condition This antique cutlery...

Kings shell motif English sterling silver flatware set, 84 pieces. This set includes: 12 banquet knives with blunt stainless blades, 10 5/8", 12 dinner forks, 7 3/4"-8 1/8" (varie...

Ntricately carved floral motifs carefully arranged along the handle and by the neck of this fanciful pattern are balanced by a slender central panel edged with delicate borders. Intr...

An exceptional, fine and impressive, rare antique Victorian English sterling silver Triton pattern flatware service for six persons; an addition to our dining silverware collection The pieces of this exceptional antique Victorian sterling silver flatware...

Kings Court (formerly Neapolitan) by Frank Whiting sterling silver 51 piece set. This classic pattern design was originally introduced in the year 1895. Th...

An exceptional, fine and impressive antique Victorian English sterling silver composite Fiddle & Thread pattern flatware service for 12 persons; an addition to our canteen of cutlery collection The pieces of this exceptional, antique Victorian composite sterling silver flatware service for twelve persons have been crafted in the Fiddle and Thread pattern. The surface of each handle is embellished with a paralleling thread decorated border. The anterior surface of each handle terminal is ornamented with a contemporary bright cut engraved crest of a stag's head erased. The posterior surface of each piece is plain and unembellished, apart from a rounded heel to the bowl of each spoon and drop of each fork. This Victorian sterling silver flatware set consists of 66 pieces: 24 Table forks 12 Table spoons 12 Dessert forks 12 Dessert spoons 6 Serving spoons These exceptional example of antique silverware have been crafted by the collectable silversmiths William Eaton (in 1839-1841) and Elizabeth Eaton (in 1852). This antique silver service can be purchased with knives if so desired, for further information please contact Andrew Campbell directly. The service benefits from an additional 12 table forks. This antique flatware service is supplied in felt cutlery rolls; which not only protect the items in storage but significantly reduces tarnishing. Condition This Victorian sterling silver flatware service for twelve persons is a superior gauge of silver, exceptional quality and in exceptional condition. The bright cut engraved crests have wear in keeping with age and use. Full hallmarks struck to the reverse of each piece are all very clear. Reflections in photographs may detract from the true representation of this impressive antique silver cutlery set...

Monumental place size Buttercup by Gorham sterling silver flatware set - 113 pieces. This set includes: 12 place size knives, 9", 12 place size forks, 7 1/2", 12 salad forks, 6 1...