Sterling Silver Tableware — general table-setting pieces, complementing our more specific categories.
Tableware
This range covers general silver tableware that sits alongside our more specific categories — Bowls, Dishes, Trays, and Cutlery each have their own space, so this is where broader table-setting pieces belong instead. Every piece is hallmarked, guaranteeing the silver content under UK law, and works well either as an individual addition to an existing table or as part of building a fuller set.
At a Glance
Covers general table-setting pieces, alongside our more specific categories
Works as an individual piece or as part of a fuller table setting
Check Bowls, Dishes, Trays, or Cutlery directly for those specific pieces
Ask directly for guidance on building a full table setting
Style & Maker History
“Tableware” gathers table pieces that don’t yet have enough individual stock to warrant their own dedicated section — an epergne is the clearest example. Epergnes first emerged in the early 1700s and became a genuine centrepiece of Victorian dining: a tall central trumpet vase, often surrounded by smaller detachable vases or baskets on scrolling arms, holding flowers, fruit, or sweets, designed as much to impress as to serve any practical purpose. Georgian and Regency examples tend toward more architectural forms, sometimes combined with cut glass bowls; Victorian pieces are often heavily ornamented — naturalistic grape-and-vine decoration, Rococo revival scrollwork, or occasionally a genuinely playful figural base. Because of their scale, many surviving epergnes are silver plate or Old Sheffield Plate rather than solid silver, worth checking carefully given how substantial a plated piece can still look. Elkington & Co., Walker & Hall, and Daniel & John Wellby are among the makers whose epergnes and centrepieces appear regularly in the trade.
Buyer's Guide
If you’re after something specific — a bowl, a dish, a tray, cutlery — it’s worth checking those categories directly first, since this range covers the broader pieces that sit alongside them rather than duplicating them. Worth asking directly if you’re building a full table setting and want guidance on what genuinely works well together.
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/