A short history of Walker & Hall
Walker & Hall was founded in Sheffield in the mid-nineteenth century by George Walker, an apprentice of Henry Wilkinson, with Henry Hall and others joining the partnership over the decades. The firm grew into one of the largest cutlery and tableware manufacturers in the city, with a substantial works on Howard Street and showrooms across the country. It produced silverware, electroplate, Britannia metal goods and steel cutlery in volume from the 1840s through to the firm's closure in the 1960s.
For a charity shop the practical importance is the same as with Mappin & Webb: the Walker & Hall name appears on both solid sterling and electroplated ranges, and the two are easy to confuse. A volunteer who reads "Walker & Hall" on the back of a fork and assumes it must be sterling will be wrong most of the time, because the firm's electroplate output was larger than its sterling output. A volunteer who treats the name as a reason to look at the rest of the marks will get the sorting right.
Donations of Walker & Hall flatware tend to come from estates of people who married between the 1890s and the 1950s, when a presentation canteen was a common wedding or anniversary gift. Pieces span late Victorian, Edwardian, inter-war and post-war styles.
The distinctive flag trademark
Walker & Hall's most recognisable trade mark is its pennant or flag device: a small flag shape with the letters "W & H" inside, sometimes accompanied by a triangle, sometimes registered as a pennant on a staff. The flag was used as the sponsor's mark on hallmarked sterling pieces and also appeared on the firm's electroplated range as a trade mark.
The flag on its own does not tell you the metal content. It tells you the piece is genuinely Walker & Hall. What sits next to the flag settles whether the piece is sterling or electroplate. On a sterling piece the flag sits inside the four-mark hallmark, alongside the lion passant, the Sheffield crown or rose, and a date letter. On an electroplated piece the flag sits alongside "EPNS", "A1" or another plate indicator, and there is no lion passant.
Sterling, Sheffield plate and EPNS: the three Walker & Hall ranges
Sterling silver Walker & Hall
The sterling range carried a full British hallmark. On a fork or spoon the marks sit on the back of the handle, near the neck. The hallmark reads: Walker & Hall flag sponsor mark, lion passant (sterling standard), crown or rose (Sheffield assay office, the crown was used until 1975, the rose since), and a single letter date mark. A genuine sterling piece will carry all four. Each piece in the canteen will carry its own hallmark, not just one fork.
Sheffield plate (older fused plate)
Sheffield plate, in the strict technical sense, is the older method invented by Thomas Boulsover in the 1740s in which a thin layer of sterling silver is fused to a copper base by heat and pressure. Walker & Hall produced Sheffield-plate pieces in the firm's earlier decades. The marks on Sheffield plate pieces vary but do not include the British lion passant, because Sheffield plate is not solid silver. Older pieces may carry the maker's name, a crown, and pattern numbers. Sheffield plate is not the same as electroplate; the silver coating is thicker, but it is still a coating, not solid metal.
Electroplated nickel silver (EPNS)
From the 1840s onwards electroplating replaced fused Sheffield plate as the standard plating method. Walker & Hall produced electroplated nickel silver flatware in very large quantities through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The marks on EPNS pieces read: Walker & Hall flag, "EPNS", "A1", and a pattern number. Common combinations include "Walker & Hall, EPNS, A1, Sheffield" and "Walker & Hall, EP, Made in England". No lion passant, no fineness number.
For a charity shop the practical sorting rule is the same in every case: lion passant means sterling, post it. EPNS or "Plate" means plate, sell it on the shop floor as cutlery.
Reading the hallmark on the spoon bowl reverse
On Walker & Hall sterling flatware the marks sit on the back of the spoon shank, just below the bowl, or on the back of the fork handle near the neck. Turn the piece over, hold it under a bright light, and look for a row of small punches. A 10x loupe makes the marks legible but is not essential; daylight and a steady hand normally suffice.
- 1. Flag (sponsor mark). The Walker & Hall pennant or flag device. Confirms the maker.
- 2. Lion passant. The walking lion in profile. Confirms sterling silver. No lion, no sterling.
- 3. Crown or rose (Sheffield assay). A crown on pre-1975 pieces, a Tudor rose on pieces assayed since. Confirms the assay office.
- 4. Date letter. A single letter in a shaped surround, telling you the year of assay. Font and surround vary year by year, so two "A" date letters in different cycles can be twenty years apart.
On older Walker & Hall pieces, before 1890, an additional fifth mark may appear: the sovereign's head duty mark. This is informational and helps you date Victorian pieces; it is not part of the modern hallmark and does not affect the sorting decision. Indicative figures move with the market; the firm offer is set only after XRF assay confirms purity and weight, and the date, maker and style is verified.
Common Walker & Hall patterns
Walker & Hall produced flatware in all the standard British patterns. Three patterns cover the bulk of donations.
- Old English. Plain, rounded handle, no decoration. The most common pattern on Walker & Hall sterling canteens, particularly from the early twentieth century. Light to medium weight.
- King's pattern. Heavy, ornate, with a shell motif at the top of the handle and a scrolled neck. King's pattern Walker & Hall sterling sits at the upper end of the indicative range for a complete canteen because of the per-piece weight.
- Fiddle pattern. Shaped like the head of a violin, with squared shoulders. Lighter than King's, common on Victorian Walker & Hall canteens.
Less common patterns from Walker & Hall include Queen's (a heavier King's variant), Hanoverian (an earlier rounded pattern that curves slightly backwards), and a number of proprietary house patterns with floral or scrolled engraving. Any pattern is worth posting if the piece is sterling; the per-gram value depends on weight and on the resale market for the specific pattern.
The canteen-versus-loose-pieces value gap
A complete Walker & Hall sterling canteen in its original fitted box is worth more per gram than the same metal sold as loose pieces. The reason is the same as for any silver canteen: a complete matched set can be resold as usable cutlery, whereas a heap of loose forks will normally be melted. The premium for completeness is significant on a heavy King's pattern canteen and smaller, though still real, on a lighter Old English set.
The premium falls away with missing pieces, with a mismatch of date letters across the canteen (a harlequin set), or with damage that makes a piece unusable. A canteen that is two place settings short of twelve drops out of the top bracket. A canteen with mixed sterling and plate pieces is valued only on the sterling portion. Send a photo of the canteen open in its box, plus close-ups of the marks on a fork and a spoon, before posting, and the team will tell you which bracket the canteen sits in.
Loose Walker & Hall sterling pieces are still well worth posting. A handful of sterling teaspoons or a sterling soup ladle from a broken canteen will be weighed and valued on its metal content. There is no minimum parcel value. A bag of small sterling pieces adds up on the calibrated scale because the price is per gram of silver content, not per item.
Walker & Hall hollowware: trays, teapots and tea services
Walker & Hall also produced trays, teapots, tea services, coffee pots and other hollowware in both sterling and electroplated ranges. The marks sit on the underside of the base, usually in a single row. The same reading rule applies: flag plus lion passant plus crown or rose plus date letter means sterling. Flag plus "EPNS" or "A1" means electroplate.
Sterling Walker & Hall hollowware is worth posting on its metal content. Electroplated Walker & Hall tea services are often in beautiful condition and are best priced for the shop floor as vintage tableware; they will frequently sell for more on the shop floor than their plate-content scrap value.
When to call or photograph before posting
A WhatsApp photo before posting saves shop time and postage. Send a clear close-up of the underside of one fork, a wider shot of the canteen open in its box, and a single line of context ("Walker & Hall canteen, twelve place settings, marks on each piece") to 07375 071158. We read the marks the same day and give an indicative figure before you pack anything.
For canteens that look heavy or that the volunteer suspects might be valuable, mention an estimated weight in the message. Royal Mail Special Delivery cover is up to £2,500, higher available on request before posting; a heavy sterling canteen will normally need additional cover arranged before it leaves the shop. The phone line is 07763 741067 if you would rather speak.
After the parcel arrives
On arrival every piece is XRF-tested for purity, weighed on calibrated scales, and priced against the live silver benchmark on the day of valuation. A written, itemised offer is sent back to the charity's head-office contact, listing the canteen as a single weighed lot or each piece on its own line, with composition, weight, rate and offer figure. If accepted, payment is by Faster Payments to the charity's registered bank account, same day where the offer is accepted before 3pm UK time on a working day. If declined, the parcel is returned free of charge, tracked and insured. Free insured return of any item the charity chooses not to sell.
Common questions
I see the Walker & Hall flag but no lion passant. What does that mean?
The piece is electroplate, not sterling. The Walker & Hall flag is a trade mark used on both ranges. Sterling pieces additionally carry the lion passant, the Sheffield crown or rose, and a date letter. Without those, the piece is plate.
What does "A1" mean on a Walker & Hall fork?
A1 is a quality grade for electroplate, indicating a thicker silver coating than ordinary plate. It is still electroplate, not solid silver, and is best sold on the shop floor as vintage cutlery.
The crown mark is different on two Walker & Hall pieces. Why?
The Sheffield assay office used a crown as its town mark until 1975 and switched to a Tudor rose afterwards. Two Sheffield pieces of different ages will have different town marks. Both are valid.
A canteen has a mix of Walker & Hall pieces and a few unmarked pieces. Is that a problem?
It is a harlequin set, made up over time from different sources. The Walker & Hall sterling pieces will be valued on weight. The unmarked pieces will be assessed on arrival; if they are sterling without marks they still pay against weight, if they are plate they are returned with the offer or sold on the shop floor.
Is Sheffield plate the same as EPNS?
No. Sheffield plate is the older fused-plate method (a thin layer of sterling silver fused to a copper base by heat and pressure). EPNS is electroplated nickel silver, the later method. Neither is solid silver, and neither pays meaningfully against the silver market.
Should we polish the canteen before posting?
No. Tarnish is cosmetic and does not affect the silver content. Polishing is unnecessary work for the shop and can in some cases wear the hallmarks if done aggressively.
How long from posting to payment?
Royal Mail Special Delivery normally arrives the next working day. XRF, weighing and a written offer are issued the same day where possible. Payment is by Faster Payment where the offer is accepted before 3pm UK time on a working day.