Lot 207: A 1911 Sheffield Sterling Silver and Mother-of-Pearl Folding Fruit Knife

A 1911 Sheffield folding fruit knife featuring a sterling silver blade and carved mother-of-pearl handle scales. The single sterling silver blade is designed with a rounded tip and a nail nick for deployment. Four hallmark punches are struck on the left side of the blade near the tang: a crown, a lion passant, a lowercase gothic letter T, and a rectangular maker’s mark containing the letters H & T. These marks signify the blade was assayed in Sheffield as sterling silver in 1911 by Hilliard & Thomason. The handle scales are constructed from mother-of-pearl with intricate carved floral and foliate decoration, featuring a central blank oval cartouche and a ribbed silver bolster at the pivot. The internal liners appear to be constructed from a yellow metal.