Silver fish servers are not known until the 1740s, the oldest one in existence is dated 1741. Fish servers of this date are often of trowel form with very fine hand piercing and the handles generally are made of turned fruitwood, although the 1741 example by Paul de Lamerie is entirely of silver with an oval blade.
By the late 1770s they are normally of a symmetrical boat shape with handles either made of ivory which was sometimes stained a green colour or silver filled with pitch to affix it to the blade. In the early nineteenth century they are more commonly made in one piece and tend to match the flatware patterns of the period and the blades have a slightly asymmetric curved shape.
It should be noted that it is only by the mid-1840s that a fork was made to accompany the server and when found with a fork the fish slice tends to be narrower and flatter. Fish knives first appear in the 1840s mostly without forks often with bone or mother of pearl handles and it was only by the 1860s that fish knives and forks became commonplace. The practice of using two table forks was still the usual way of eating fish. Fish knives and forks tend to be made in two types all in one to match the flatware or with a pitch filled handle of silver, bone, or mother of pearl as in knife handles.
Here at William Walter, we have an extensive stock of fish servers and fish knives and forks in a vast array of styles.
