Antique Silver Coffee Pot 1

<p style="text-align: left;">Took over John Winter's candlesticks business in 1783 and 10 years later (1793) transferred the business to John Green &amp; Company. Exclusive maker of fine candlesticks, candelabra and chambersticks.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">John Parsons died in 1814 and when his sister Mary Parsons died in 1815, she left a bequest of £1,500.00 (approx £200 thousand in today's money) in her will, to help needy silversmiths. This was founded in affectionate memory by her brother and the charity continues today in Sheffield.</p>
<a href="https://williamwalter.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/John-Parsonsw.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-11143" src="https://williamwalter.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/John-Parsonsw-300x285.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="285" /></a>

John Parsons &amp; Co

Walker &amp; Hall were Sheffield based silversmiths making their fortune with electroplating, cutlery and silver from the mid-19th century until they closed in 1971.

The company started with a Britannia metalworker - John Harrison - who took the first licence in Sheffield from Elkingtons to make electroplated wares. He sent George Walker to Birmingham to learn the new process. On his return to Sheffield, George decided to set up his own business and entered into partnership with Samuel Coulson in 1845. They obtained their own electroplating licence but did not start manufacture immediately. When they did, they were joined by Henry Hall and they started trading as Walker &amp; Hall in 1853.

When Sir John Bingham joined them in 1852 they had fewer than 20 employees, but by 1894 they had grown to 1500 workers. Sir John Bingham was a master publicist and they appear to be the originators of the false story that George Walker had been an assistant of Dr. John Wright, the surgeon who had invented the electroplating process and so could claim to be a co-inventor. The story has made it into many texts as fact.

They were very successful and went on to open showrooms in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Cardiff, Belfast, Hull, Bristol as well as in Australia (Melbourne and Adelaide) and in South Africa (Cape Town).

They became a limited company in 1920 under the name Walker &amp; Hall Ltd, and their "Electro Works" building dominated the Sheffield skyline until it was bombed in the Sheffield blitz in 1940. They managed to rebuild and continued production until 1963. In that year, they combined with Mappin &amp; Webb and Elkington &amp; Co to form British Silverware Ltd.

They shut down as a manufacturer in 1973, although the brand was later revived as a retailer.

Walker &amp; Hall

Antique Silver Coffee Pot made in 1908

Antique silver coffee pot of rounded oblong form with alternate concave and convex part fluting. The pot has ebony handles, and all are raised on ball and...

Antique silver coffee pot of rounded oblong form with alternate concave and convex part fluting. The pot has ebony handles, and all are raised on ball and fluted supports.

Date	1908
Made By	John Parsons & Co
Location	Sheffield
Stock Number

Antique Silver Coffee Pot made in 1908

Share With a Friend

Print PDF