Antique Silver and Old Sheffiel Plate : A good Mathew Boulton Old Sheffield Plate Chamberstick with Snuffer and a solid silver and steel Wick Trimmer - C.1800

A good sized Old Sheffield Plate (Fused / Rolled Plate) Chamberstick and Snuffer
having gadrooned edging, upright supports, thumbpiece with demi lion crest, removavable
drip pan and Snuffer - bearing the twin suns makers marks for Mathew Boulton, along with a pair of Georgian solid silver and steel Wick Trimmers

The upright supports are designed to hold a pair of scissors with box type Wick Trimmers which we have kept together as they came in together and fit good

Circa: 1800 - please see images

Very Good Antique Condition - the Old Sheffield silver plate in great condition being
bled obly on a few edges and the top section of the snuffer with a little underneath. A
few small age related dinks as expected and commensurate with age, a few light sratches
mentioned for accurracy - this piece is in very good antique condition buyer will be
delighted

Stamped Makers Marks for Mathew Boulton - Twin Suns - please see images

6 inches (15.5cm) base dia X 4 inches (10cm) height approx

Along with a very attractive pair of Solid Silver and Steel scissor type Wick Timmers
the handles in solid silver with thread decoration and ring handles, the steel with Scissor
Box for extinquishing th flame and trimming the wick, the hightly attractive 'arrow head' tip
for digging out the wick prior to trimming.and a small leg

Circa: 18th century

No Hallmarks - handle solid silver rest steel

5.25 inches (13.5cm) length approx

Good Antique Condition - ring handles a bit mis-formed and a little movement on hinge both
doees not distract and as expected commensurate with age


MARKS - HALLMARKS - HISTORY

Boulton was not a "goldsmith" or a "silversmith" in the accepted sense, yet for his achievements and services to the craft of goldsmithing he is fully worthy of inclusion in the list of great English goldsmiths.
Matthew Boulton was born in Birmingham on 3 September 1728. His father Matthew Boulton (senior) was a "toy maker" and silver stamper specialized in the production of shoe-buckles. 
Boulton junior was taken into partnership in 1749 and was left in sole charge of the business after the death of his father in 1759. 
Boulton had the ambition to establish a manufacturing complex where craftsmen in the various branches of the "toy" trade would work together under one roof, enabling him to reap both wholesale and retail profits. In 1761 he realized his project purchasing a one-hundred- year-lease of the "Soho" estate at Handswoth Heath (two miles from Snow Hilton the Wolverhampton Road). 
In 1762 Boulton took into unofficial partnership John Fothergill who would act as a travelling salesman to advertise his wares and the factory moved to Soho in the same year. 
The partnership concentrated in the production of steel "toys" a little later on buttons and buckles made in a variety of substances, including , of course, silver. In 1762 Soho factory began to produce articles in "Sheffield" plate and one of the first to adopt "Sterling silver thread" edging which prevent to reveal the underlying copper. 
Boulton soon became the largest manufacturer of "Sheffield plate" of the country expanding the business of Soho manufactory in the production of bijouterie, objects d'art and de virtue, in ormolu, pinchbeck and tortoise-shell, and in clocks. 
In 1765 Boulton began the manufacture of pieces in solid silver, being obliged to send every piece of plate to Chester to be marked (Chester was the nearest assay office, 72 miles away from Birmingham). Boulton was the promoter a petition obtaining in 1773 the Royal Assent to assay silver in Birmingham (the same was for Sheffield). 
Boulton & Fothergill entered their joint mark consisting of their initials, MB before IF. After the death of Fothergill (1782) Boulton punched his plate with his initials alone. 
When manufacturers of plated ware were permitted to register their marks at the Assay Office in Sheffield (1784), Boulton registered his mark of "twin suns" under the name Boulton M. & Co. 
The most important designers for Boulton plate in the neo-classic taste were Robert Adams and James Wyatt. 
Matthew Boulton died on 17 August 1809. 
The mark MB continued to be used by Matthew Boulton Plate Co until 1832. 

Antique Silver