Old English Canteen Set.

87-pc canteen set. The silver plated flatware was manufactured by James Dixon & Sons, Sheffield, Yorkshire, founded 1806, pioneers in the electroplating process in which a thin layer of pure silver is deposited elctrolytically on the surface of a base metal, nickel in this case. This "Old English" pattern bears the Dixon name as well as the famous Trumpet & Banner trade mark granted in 1879. The set is comprised of 12 each: dinner knives, dinner forks, dessert knives, dessert forks, dessert spoons, and tea spoons; 6 table spoons,2 salt spoons, 2 mustard spoons 1 large carving knife, 1 game carving knife, 1 sharpening steel, 1 large carving fork, and 1 game carving fork.

The knife blades are stainless steel and bear the mark Joseph Rogers & Sons, Cutlers to His Majesty, Rogers Stainless. The knife handles are made of “ivorine,” also known as “French Ivory,” an imitation of tusk ivory in grained celluloid. First discovered in 1845, it was the English inventor Michael Parkes who perfected it to become the first semi-synthetic thermoplastic raw material. Among its many applications were cutlery handles, combs, spectacle frames, and billiard balls.

From the beginnings of the 19th Century to the early 20th Century the English city of Sheffield harbored the manufacture of the highest quality knives in the globe. During this period, that has been named “Sheffield’s Golden Era,” the top knife makers and their products were sold and appreciated worldwide. This fact was recognized and rewarded Joseph Rogers & Sons Appointment as Suppliers to the King by no less than five British sovereigns: George IV, William IV, Victoria, Edward VII, and George V. “Joseph Rogers & Sons; The knife of Kings and the King of knives.”

The set is known as a canteen, and it was the practice of English officers to travel with a canteen of silver to entertain in a proper fashion and style when posted to distant parts of the English Empire. This mahogany box would have made a good companion piece to the wooden campaign chests and desks with which they also traveled. Each layer within the chest is felt lined and each tray has purpose built compartments to hold the utensils and the original labels naming each utensil beside each section to avoid improper positioning. The working lock and two keys are included. The engraved plaque on the chest reads “Presented to William Wenman by the office and Staff, Hickleton Main, August 1914.” Hickleton Main was a colliery or coal mine with all its structures, in South Yorkshire, in existence from 1890 to 1988.

Old English canteen (C652). Dimensions: chest 18.5”W x 14.5”D x 5.5”H; dinner knife 10.5”; dinner fork 7.75. Shipping included.