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Menu Holders

Sterling Silver Menu Holders — also called place card holders, £60-£300, with sets of twelve genuinely hard to find.
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Silver menu holders — also known as place card holders — have been made for well over a hundred years, in a genuinely wide range of decorative styles. Serious collectors often build a set around a specific theme: game, military, club, animal, nautical, and figural designs all turn up regularly. Most sets of six or more are available as genuine vintage silver; beyond that, our own silversmiths design and commission larger sets to order. Every piece is hallmarked, guaranteeing the silver content under UK law, and they remain a popular way to add something a little more interesting to a dining table.

At a Glance

Vintage menu holders typically run £60-£300
Also known as place card holders
Common themes: game, military, club, animal, nautical, and figural
Novelty figural and animal designs command a real premium
Genuine sets of twelve are hard to find; larger sets can be made to order
Pre-1900 examples are scarce and typically heavily decorated

Style & Maker History

Menu holders have been made for well over a century, historically used to hold a printed menu card at each place setting — a genuine point of table decoration in their own right. The most decorative examples date from the Victorian period, with embellished chased work, hand-engraved scenes, or novelty figural designs typical of that era. Pre-1900 examples are scarce, and where they survive tend to carry a good deal of decoration rather than being plain. Genuine sets of twelve are hard to find from any period, largely because a set that large simply wasn’t as commonly commissioned in the first place.

Buyer's Guide

Prices for vintage menu holders typically run from around £60 to £300, with novelty designs — particularly figural and animal themes — commanding a real premium over plainer styles. The most highly decorative pieces, with embellished chased work or hand-engraved scenes, tend to be Victorian. Genuine sets of twelve are particularly hard to find in vintage silver; if you need that many, made-to-order from one of our own silversmiths is usually the more realistic route. Worth deciding early whether you want a uniform matched set or a deliberately mixed, individual look. In a similar way to napkin rings, collecting a smaller, eclectic set is a good way into this category.

A few things to know

Any item which is guaranteed to be over 100 years old.
Sterling Silver is guaranteed by the UK Hallmarking Act. Each piece is independently verified and assayed for the purity of silver content.
Yes, all of the items shown on our website are available to view at our showroom in The London Silver Vaults.
Looking after your silverware is a simple process. We have put together a guide at https://johnsurtees.co.uk/knowledge/how-to-clean-silver-care-guide/