York town mark - A rare George III provincial sterling silver meat dish, York 1805 by John Prince, Robert Cattle and George Cattle

of oval form with a broad edge and a reeded rim. Fully marked to the reverse edge, a journeyman’s mark of two pellets.

Length – 48.1 cm / 18.9 inches

Weight – 1759 grams / 56.55 ozt

See Baggot, M. (2010), An Illustrated Guide to York Hallmarks 1776-1858. Bodmin: Micheal Baggot.

The firm of Prince and Cattles at Coney Steet in York during 1805 produced tableware, as is the case here with this meat dish which given it’s broad rim it distinguishable enough from the productions of London firms. to table-silver. This dish is most likely the one described as a ‘large dish’ submitted for assay on 12 February 1805 as part of a parcel including ‘a pair of silver salts, a chalice & plate, 2 doz forks, a large dish, 6 butter ladles, 5 soup ladles, a large turine, a buckle, a frame for glass, a castor top, a waiter, 3 large seals, 8 doz & 11 spoons’, (ibid p.151).

For an unusual pair of jugs with stands by this firm of 1803, sold these rooms, 23 March 2023, lot 444 (£5,250 incl. prem)