Expert: Martin G Roberts - 2/22/2009

Question
I have recently come across several mandal silver imperial measures. They  range from a gill to a small one with 0.5 on the bottom. They came from my Mother in laws house and I believe they were once used in the pub trade as she had a connection with that industry in her youth. Can you shed any light on these for me.

Regards


Ellie

Answer
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Hello Ellie,

Mandal silver seems to have been an alloy used in Britain in making various barfittings around the early 20th Century. These included mugs, measures and barrel taps. This is based only on my own observations of pieces marked with those words, as I have not found any reference to the material in any published source.

If there is anyone else reading this who knows more, do get in touch, as I would be pleased to hear of it.

A quick Google found some people suggesting mandal silver is real silver. Given the utilitarian nature of the objects so marked, it seems most unlikely there is any silver in the alloy. There were several alloys developed in the 19th and 20th Centuries that had colour and brilliance suggestive of silver, and sometimes they are called 'silver'. For instance, German silver and nickel silver.

Your measures will run from a gill (quarter pint, or 5 fluid ounces), down to half a fluid ounce.

Hope that helps.

Martin
www.antique-metalware.co.uk