Top Quality Victorian Three-Piece Officer’s Folding Campaign Cutlery Set by F. WEST with Silver Fork and Spoon by Robert Hutton 1873 in Leather Covered Case

Here on offer is a fine quality Victorian three-piece Officer’s folding campaign cutlery set by the famous Royal appointed cutler, F. WEST, in their black leather covered case.

The fork and spoon are made from hallmarked silver and both have a clear set of English silver hallmarks, the Lion Passant for English silver (925), a crown for the assay office of Sheffield and the date letter “F” for the year 1873. There is also the profile image of a young Queen Victoria, facing left.

It also shows the makers mark that reads as “R H” set in an indented oval, which stands for the English silversmith:

Robert Hutton for William Hutton & Son, of High Street, Sheffield.

This “R H” hallmark was entered in the Sheffield Assay Office in 1866.

The rounded knife blade is made from polished steel and has a maker’s name on the ricasso:

F. WEST
1 St JAMES
STREET

Now F. WEST stands for Fitzmaurice West who established himself as a cutler and dressing case manufacturer in 1839. It is likely that West was a former employee of George Palmer, also a cutler and dressing case manufacturer, and they shared a premises based at 1 St James’s Street, London.

Although Palmer continued working at this address until at least 1842, records and advertisements from 1840 show that West declared his business as ‘late Palmer’; this would indicate that although they were still sharing an address, they were now two separate businesses.

West became one of the appointed manufacturers to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, the Duchess of Kent and other members of the Royal Family.

West exhibited his dressing cases, writing cases and travelling bags at the International Exhibition of 1862. Along with fellow dressing case manufacturer Charles Bazin, West was on the panel of jurors for the International Exhibition presiding over the category of ‘Dressing Cases, Despatch Boxes and Travelling Cases’.

This position precluded West from having his own exhibits judged, however the following was documented in the ‘International Exhibition 1862 – Reports By The Juries On The Subjects In The Thirty-Six Classes Into Which The Exhibition Was Divided’ (Peter Le Neve FOSTER, John Frederick ISELIN (the Elder) 1863), “The Jury consider it a duty to state their opinion with respect to the collections exhibited by Mr. F. West and Messrs. M. & B. Mechi & Bazin, and to declare that, but for the exceptional and honourable position which they hold, they would have placed them in the first order of merit”.

West moved his business to 2 St James’s Street, London in 1877 and later, in 1883, to 9 King Street, St James’s, London.

Now regarding the knife blade, unfortunately, the upper top section of the blade with the smaller cutting edge, is now pitted and stained, probably from the acid from cutting fruit?

The long blade still retains a sharp and full cutting edge and locks in place securely.

The fork also has a folding steel corkscrew set into the handle, that still retains a sharp point and it locks in place securely. It does now have some light age-related pitting to the finish.

All three of the handles have been made from slabs of a smooth natural material that was used on top quality items back in the Victorian period. They are held in place on the cutlery with three silver pins and are in excellent condition, with just a small section having been professionally repaired on the spoon. This set was clearly loved and kept in full working condition.

All the handles have a detailed monogram in gothic font, professionally engraved into one side of the handle.

It seems to read as:

M I M

Sadly, I have no idea who the actual owner was?

All I know is apparently this set originally came with some Boer War period campaign furniture, that had already been sold when I came across this set.

The knife, fork and spoon are housed for travel in its original black leather on card case, which is in great condition.

This top-quality set of travel cutlery would have been useful for a serving officer during a campaign and also for field sports or picnics etc.

The fork measures 7” (17.7cm) long, the knife 7.25” (18.5cm) and the spoon 7.5” (19cm) when open and the handles are 0.7” (1.7cm) wide.

In the case they weigh a total of 180g.

Please see my pictures for the details of the condition, which complement this description.

Please see my TERMS OF BUSINESS regarding Deliver Charges and Insurance regarding additional insurance cover, should you require it, BEFORE the item is dispatched.

The responsibility lies with the customer to check with your Customs restrictions that this item can be imported into your country.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Code: 51525