Liberty & Co

Liberty launched Cymric silver in 1899 and Tudric pewter two years later, both made under a partnership with the Birmingham firm W. H. Haseler from 1901. The designs, many by the Manx artist Archibald Knox, drew on Celtic interlace and were sold anonymously under the Liberty name. Production of the silver range wound down in the late 1920s.

What to look for

L&Co in a triple lozenge with Birmingham marks, and CYMRIC stamped alongside on most pieces. Most pieces carry a model number, which can be matched to the Liberty pattern books to attribute a design to Knox or another designer. Enamel in blue and green, and turquoise or blister pearls, are characteristic.

What moves the price

A firm attribution to Knox, enamel in good condition, and the object type. Clocks, cups, spoons in the “Cymric” spoon series and buckles are the recognised collecting areas. Tudric pewter of the same designs sells for a fraction of the silver. Chips to the enamel and replaced stones are the usual condition issues.

Cymric, Tudric, and who actually made it

Liberty sold the silver; the Birmingham firm W. H. Haseler made most of it. Cymric launched in 1899, the Liberty and Haseler partnership was formalised in 1901, and Tudric pewter followed in the same designs at a fraction of the price. The silver range wound down through the 1920s.

The commercial decision that shapes the market today was Liberty’s refusal to credit designers. Everything went out under the shop’s name, which is why attribution is the central question on every piece and why the pattern books matter so much.

Attributing a design to Knox

Archibald Knox designed a large part of the range and his pieces lead the market, so an attribution is worth establishing rather than assuming.

The model number is the evidence. Liberty’s pattern books survive and have been published in collectors’ references, and a number matched to a recorded Knox design is the attribution. Style alone is not: Knox worked alongside Rex Silver, Jessie M. King, Oliver Baker and others, all drawing on the same Celtic vocabulary.

What Knox brings to a piece is entwined line that never quite resolves, whiplash interlace running round a form rather than sitting on it, and enamel used as a field of colour rather than as an outline filled in. Where a piece is unnumbered and undocumented, it sells as Liberty rather than as Knox, and the gap between those two prices is large.

What comes up

• Clocks. The most recognised Liberty objects, in silver and in Tudric pewter, with enamelled dials at the top end.
• Cups, bowls and dishes. The core of the silver range.
• Spoons. The Cymric spoon series is collected as a set in its own right.
• Buckles, buttons and jewellery. Plentiful, and the entry point.
• Tudric pewter. Same designs, a fraction of the price, and a sensible way to own a Knox design.

Condition, and what it costs

Enamel is the first thing to check and the hardest to put right. Chips to the edge of a panel, crazing across a field, and a colour that does not match its neighbour all read at a glance under raking light.

Turquoise and blister pearls were set in quantity and both are soft. Replaced stones sit differently in their collets and rarely match the originals in colour.

Silver in this range is thin where it is planished, so dents to a bowl or a distorted clock case are common and hard to correct without disturbing the enamel.

Where to check

The Birmingham Assay Office holds the registers for the Haseler marks, and the Birmingham hallmarks page covers the anchor and date letters. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds a substantial collection of Liberty metalwork with attributions recorded where they are known.