J.S. & S. Silver Plate Salver

We have had for a while a nice salver which until recently we knew little about and was a bit of a conundrum. The salver has a brassy patina to it but in the centre of the base it bears a makers mark (J.S.& S) ...plus three other marks which at first glance appear to be silver hallmarks. The brassy patina suggests that the piece has once been silver plated and unfortunatly due to the wrong type of cleaning the silver has worn off. Many plated items of this period have ended up being rubbed back to the base metal which makes complete silver plated items more scarce. Researching the makers' mark brought with it some interesting information. J.S, & S stands for John Sherwood and Sons, a company based in Birmingham between 1858 and 1913. This version of the mark was used between 1865 and 1913 and the mark next to it represents a beaver which was also used as a trade mark by this company. The crown mark was used by the Birmingham Assay Office and normally appears on Stirling silver items. The last mark is a Gothic letter C used in this form as a date letter on Birmingham silver produced 1826-27 which predates this piece. Other pieces from the same maker have had different Gothic letters from the same hallmark cylce used between 1824 and 1849. This suggests that J.S. & S may have been using these to date their products but there is no evidence to show when this began or ended. All this adds up to a set of marks which mimic those which were required on Sterling silver but for which there were no legal guidelines for silver plate. Confusing now and was seen as an attempt to deceive at the time!