Menu Holders

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

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.

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.