Pistol grip sterling silver handled butter/tea knives - Sheffield 1909-11

The sterling silver pistol grip handles on these lovely butter or afternoon tea knives are truly elegant and would be perfect for a high tea or special breakfast. They are in very good condition with only the odd small knock consistent with age and use. 

This lovely set is quite fascinating and there must be an interesting story behind it. It was made marketed by W. Saynor, Carlton Works, Sheffield and all six knife blades bear their name and are marked Pioneer Plate - as it was standard for knife blades to be made of silver plate and later stainless steel rather than the softer sterling silver of the handles. All of the handles are fully hallmarked on one side and with just the lion passant and date stamp on the back as you'd expect. 

While they are certainly a matched set and were clearly sold by the same maker the sterling silver handles are actually made by three different makers as they have three different maker's marks as you can see in the photographs and four were made in 1909/10 while two were made in 1910/11. I can only think of two logical explanations - either they were originally sold this way and Saynor simply sourced handles from a number of Sheffield silversmiths or the original owners had multiple sets and didn't pay attention to the individual maker's mark when putting them away after use. 

Either way, they are a lovely set and deserve to be appreciated and put back in service. They come in their original fitted box, which retains all its vibrance internally. There is only some minor deterioration in the silk by the hinges. Externally the box is in good order but the catch is missing so it cannot be securely fastened. 

Please look closely at the photographs as they form part of the description and please get in touch if you have any questions.