Antique silver-plated biscuit box

Excellent, Victorian oval silver-plated biscuit box finely hand-engraved with floral garlands and swags, starbursts and geometric patterns. The detachable finial and flared base and rim have bead pattern borders. There are cast and applied lion mask handles. Mounted on four openwork scroll & shell supports.

Elkington is one of the most important names in English silver and certainly the most important in silver plate. Established by George Richards Elkington in 1836, and joined by other Elkington family, the firm revolutionised the silver industry when George Richards Elkington discovered, perfected and patented an electroplating technique to deposit a layer of silver and fuse it onto the surface of a base metal. It was extremely successful and gave birth to a large new market of silver-plated tableware. The firm employed some of the best British and European designers of the day and produced decorative silver in a wide variety of styles.