Hanau silver was largely imported in the UK between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the main importers being Berthold Muller and J.G. Piddington. The UK company J.G. Piddington was a shipping and forwarding business founded in 1849. The firm was a partnership between J. Friend and J. Piddington. The grandson of Piddington, John G.Smith Jr., took the surname of his grandfather in 1900. J.G. Smith & Co are noted to have imported a great deal of silver, apparently an important part of their business until 1939. Many of these items, decorative in nature, to be of German origin.