18th Century Old English Pattern Canteen, London 1795/6 by Thomas Northcote 

 

We are offering a fabulous quality George III period 60-piece canteen in Old English. This is a very scarce opportunity to buy an 18th Century period canteen in fine condition with a wonderful patina. The forks are a particularly pleasing aspect of this 210 year old service. It is very difficult to find sets of 18th Century forks (in good condition), let alone same date and maker sets such as those present in this canteen. 

The majority of pieces present, formed part of an original service. These forty four pieces bear the same engraved crest. Ten other pieces from 1795/6 (by the same maker or in combination with his partner George Bourne) have been later added. Six of the teaspoons are a good match in terms of length but are by different makers.

Components and Measurements

This 60-piece service consists of the following:

Total Weight: 2796 grams (90 troy ounces)

Old English Pattern

Old English Pattern was first introduced circa 1770 and was highly fashionable through to circa 1800. It has always been a very favoured pattern due to it’s elegant and simple form and has been produced continually to the present day with a resurgence of popularity in the early 20^th Century. It is very rare to find a complete service from the first period, as forks are especially difficult to find in good condition - this set has twenty four excellent forks.

The Crest

Forty four of the pieces bear the same engraved crest (spoons crested to the front and forks to the reverse as was standard in the 18thC). This crests depicts a raised bear's paw and is shown in a photograph below.. 

The Maker

Thomas Northcote was a specialist spoon and fork maker and was apprenticed to Charles Hutton between 1766 and 1771. He entered his first mark (TN) on 20th August 1776 following five years in the workshops of Thomas Chawner. For a brief period in the mid-1790's he worked in partnership with George Bourne (TN/GB), before once again working on his own account. He is particularly noted for the fine quality forks that bear his mark and was probably a specialist in this craft (forks were more difficult to make than spoons). He died in 1798 aged forty nine leaving his widow, Hannah, to continue the business.

Condition

The condition is superb and is as good as they come for a canteen of this period. All fork tines are full length and spoon bowls are unworn. Patina is original throughout. 

Additional pieces

We retain in stock a further selection of Old English pattern items with the same crest, which could be purchased by the buyer of the above (including an 11.5" long basting spoon). In addition, we have a selection of Old English Pattern serving items in stock. New silver handled knives or bone handled knives are available on request to complement this canteen.