Description
A fine sterling silver sugar caster of columnar form, spreading baseward in the manner of a lighthouse, with a raised rim at the top, midpoint girdle and stepped foot. It has an ‘onion-domed’, removable dispenser cap with circular piercings. The caster is undecorated but spot-hammered with planishing marks.
Hallmarks
Marks on Dispenser Cap
Marks on Caster Body
Body and Cap: Lion Passant (Sterling); Leopard’s Head (London); lower case Roman ‘r’ (1912-13). The sponsor’s mark of Roman capitals ‘S.BS’ in a rectangular punch is consistent with the Sandheim Brothers.
Dimensions & Weights
Caster (diameter of cap): 5.3 cm / 2 1/8 in
(diameter of foot): 7.7 cm / 3 in
Height: 15.8 cm / 6 ¼ in
Weight: 161 gm / 5.2 ozT
The Sandheim Brothers and their Daughter-in-Law, Amy Sandheim
The Sandheim Brothers (David Ovid and Adolph Abraham Sandheim) settled in Notting Hill after half a lifetime of trying to find a successful niche in which to work and prosper. The children of a devout German Jewish emigrant, they were born in Dublin before coming to the mainland to settle to their trades as Jeweller, Goldsmith and Pipe-Maker.
By 1875 they appear to have settled in the little parade of shops where Ladbroke Grove meets Holland Park Road, trading as SANDHEIM BROTHERS.
The skills of David’s son, Julius Woolfe Sandheim (1882-1933), in both design and hand-worked jewellery – he was a student of Augustus Steward at the prestigious and influential Central School of Arts & Crafts (Steward also taught H. G. Murphy, for instance) – led to Julius Woolfe Sandheim replacing his father as partner upon his father’s death in 1904. The business, however, continued to trade under the original name.
Julius married Amy Alice Wilkins (1875–1958) in 1907 (they would have met at the Central School) and registered their first mark, retaining the ‘S.BS’ format, at Goldsmiths’ Hall on 28 May 1908. It is likely that all the silverware and jewellery was the result of their partnership.
Julius changed his name to Sandeman in January 1916 so as not to sound German. Amy later registered her own mark in August 1923 and, by 1928, had registered her own Company, Amy Sandheim Ltd, following the death of Adolph Abraham.
