Lot 237: An 1887 Sheffield Sterling Silver Folding Fruit Knife, William Needham

A late 19th Century folding fruit knife, featuring a single folding sterling silver blade and polished mother-of-pearl handle scales. The silver blade is constructed with a curved nail nick and is secured to the handle by a metal bolster featuring decorative horizontal reeding. The mother-of-pearl handle scales are fastened with three visible pins. The blade bears a sequence of four struck hallmark punches: a crown, a lion passant, a lowercase shield-shaped u, and the maker’s mark WN. These marks identify the piece as sterling silver, assayed in Sheffield in the year 1887, and manufactured by William Needham.