Cutlery & Antique Cutlery Canteens

One of the places where a request for a canteen of cutlery, if not a canteen of antique cutlery, can often be seen is the “wedding list” - a list of desired presents compiled by the happy couple in an attempt to avoid receiving unwanted or duplicate wedding gifts.

There can be very few wedding present lists out there that do not have on it a canteen of cutlery or perhaps individual sets or items of cutlery. Fine quality cutlery is a valuable gift that will go on being used and admired and we seek to offer our customers only the very best canteens of cutlery here online and in our North London showrooms.

Although few people would specify on their wedding wish list that they wanted an antique canteen of cutlery, there is no doubt that such a canteen of fine quality antique cutlery would be well received in most cases.

Our Proud History of Selling Antique Cutlery from Famous UK Makers

England, of course, has a long and very proud history of top quality cutlery manufacture with the cities of Sheffield and Birmingham having been strongly associated with the trade for several centuries and still, in some cases, to this very day although, sadly, much of the production has been moved offshore, notably China.

A full set of antique cutlery can be quite extensive (and expensive!), and might typically include knives, fish knives, forks, fish forks, various spoons, dessert forks and so on. Depending on how many settings the canteen of cutlery is designed for, a canteen can contain many items of cutlery and completeness is sometimes an issue. Over time, some items become lost, damaged or just plain old worn out, but an antique canteen of cutlery that has been properly looked after can be much sought after and a complete set with no items missing can be a relatively rare find.

On the other hand, however, many families have a “day-to-day” set of cutlery and another, probably much more valuable, set that is set aside for use on special occasions and which is usually complete and in very fine condition. Very often, these antique canteens of cutlery have been in the family for generations and are much admired and treasured - which means that they do not come onto the market very often but, occasionally, they do and when they do you should be ready to take action.

This leads to there being complete sets of antique cutlery coming onto the market from time to time and we usually have some such sets in our inventory - call or email to check on current stock or sign up for our free alerts when a new set comes into stock.

Every Canteen of Cutlery is Unique and Some May Never Be Repeated

Please bear in mind that the canteens of antique cutlery that you see on this website are, effectively, one-offs in that, if you miss it because someone else beats you to it, we cannot just order another one - it might take months before a similar set comes our way. The moral of that story is, if you see what you want, act fast and ask us to reserve it for you.

Antique Cutlery from Major Manufacturers

There are many well known and well respected names associated with the manufacture of cutlery in the UK. The most notable of these would be:

Arthur Price - Sheffield, founded 1902 - still operating.

Viners - founded 1908, still trading but manufactured overseas.

Mappin & Webb - founded 1705, still trading but now known mainly as jewellery manufacturers and retailers.

William Eaton - London 1813 onwards; sought after antique cutlery.

Paul Storr - world famous silversmith working London from around 1770, highly prized and much sought after.

James Dixon & Sons Ltd - Sheffield, founded early 1800s and continued trading until 1990s.

There are, of course, many others, too numerous to list here. If you are looking for antique cutlery by a particular manufacturer then please contact us and we will do our best to source it for you. If you just want to be told when a new canteen of cutlery comes into our inventory then use the free alerts service - the link is below.

See Our Antique Cutlery Inventory for Yourself

If you find a canteen of cutlery in our stock that you like the look of then the best thing to do is to come to our  North London showroom and see it for yourself. We are located in a very accessible location, close to Manor House Tube Station on the Piccadilly Line. If you come by car we do have a car park on the premises.

The showroom is open for viewing on every weekday between 10am and 5pm and on occasional Saturdays - check on the home page or call us before making a trip on a Saturday.

On the other hand, if you cannot make the trip to the showroom or if you are located overseas, you will find that we do provide a comprehensive set of images on all of our product listings pages for you to look at and satisfy yourself as to the condition and quality of the items. You are also welcome to contact us by telephone or email in order to ask any questions that you might have about any of our canteens of cutlery or any other item. Please remember to quote the item reference number in order to avoid errors - our team is standing by.

Take a look at the range we have on this website and see if there is a canteen of cutlery that takes your fancy We can ship worldwide if you can’t make it to our North London showroom but please remember to request a shipping quotation before making a purchase. Our mainland UK customers benefit from free of charge shipping.

You will find other items of interest in our various silver categories so please take a look at those whilst you are here.

For weekly notifications of new arrivals in this or any of our other categories of interest please click HERE.