Arts & Crafts Hammered Silver Spoon

Frances Charlotte Harling, London 1926
Photo 1 of 8

A rare Arts & Crafts hammered silver Spoon, the flat handle chased with Celtic motifs.

By Francis Harling, (Amy Sandheim's younger sister) London 1926

Sold - £245.00

Condition
In good condition with no damage or repair
Dimensions
H
162 mm (6.38 inches)
W
34 mm (1.34 inches)
Weight
42.00 Grams (1.35 troy ounces)
Country
England
Stock Code
NW327
Medium
Silver
Literature
Anthony Bernbaum - The Peartree Collection
Frances Harling was born Frances Charlotte Wilkins in around 1878. Preceding her by two years was her older sister, Amy Alice Wilkins. Their father was a boot retailer. In the 1901 census Amy is listed as a sculptress and is recorded as exhibiting two sculptures in 1905 at the Society of Women Artists Exhibition. She was trained at the Central School of Art.

In 1907 Amy married Julius Sandheim (she was not born into the Sandheim as if frequently reported) and so, through marriage, became the jeweller Amy Sandheim, within this established jewellery family. In the 1911 census Amy is listed as a jewellery assistant. Her story post 1918 is well known, establishing a highly successful shop in Notting Hill and designing wonderful jewellery similar in style to her friends Sybil Dunlop and Dorrie Nossiter.

Her sister, Frances, biography is harder to unpick but it seems she must have followed her older sister Amy into the jewellery business, most likely as her assistant. Unlike Amy there is no record of where she trained and in 1908 she married a butler, Robert Francis Harling. In the 1911 census she is listed as an assistant boot seller to her father.

By 1922 Frances has registered her own mark at the London assay office and by the 1930’s is listed as having her own jewellery shop at 85 Heath Street, Hampstead, now an interior design gallery.