Elkington & Co.
| Elkington & Co.
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Limited |
| Seat | Birmingham |
| Branch | Manufacturing |
Elkington & Co. was a major British silversmith that was founded in Birmingham in the 1840s.
history
The inventors of silver plating were George Richards Elkington (1801–1865) and Henry Elkington († 1852), whose research began during the industrial revolution. From the 1830s they patented the processes, and in 1840 the technique of electroplating was perfected.
Contemporary John Culme, who was then compiling a list of goldsmiths and silversmiths, mentions in his writings that the Elkington electroplating process was licensed to numerous companies. One of the first companies to use this process was Christofle & Cie. in France.
In 1868 Queen Victoria Elkington gave permission to copy much of the royal collection of tablets. As a result, several orders were completed in which princely families gave Elkington permission to copy the family silver and other works of art.
Due to the high quality of the products and the merits, the company received the highest awards at international exhibitions. Elkington & Co received the Legion of Honor of the French Republic and was repeatedly awarded by Queen Victoria, Edward VII , Queen Alexandra , George V , Queen Mary and George VI. as well as the Duke of Windsor (formerly King Edward VIII. ) and Princess Helena of Great Britain and Ireland with the Royal Warrant appointed royal purveyors. Outside England Elkington was purveyor to the court of the King of Spain and the King of Italy. The company was also appointed supplier to the Imperial and Royal Court .
Elkington made the cutlery for the luxurious dining rooms on board the Titanic and other ships in the White Star Line fleet. The sample supplied at that time was called Dubarry ; it is still available today. To order and to protect against imitations, this pattern is available with the White Star Line logo stamped on it.
Elkington also supplied the cutlery and silver for the royal yacht Britannia , which was decommissioned in the late 1990s.
The company existed until the 1960s.
literature
- Ingrid Haslinger: Customer - Kaiser. The story of the former imperial and royal purveyors . Schroll, Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-85202-129-4 .
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ History of Elkington & Company. RP Day & Co, Sheffield, November 27, 2009, accessed November 27, 2009 .