Plain Pine

Walter Patrick Belk initially designed this service for the tourist class (2nd class) dining room of the Queen Mary. It proved so popular that it was also used for another of Cunard’s transatlantic liners, the Queen Elizabeth, sister ship of the Queen Mary. In the first half of the 20th century, Roberts and Belk were a well-known firm of manufacturing platers and silversmiths. They had been established in Sheffield in 1810. In 1901 the firm converted into a limited liability company, the first directors being Charles Belk and Walter Belk. In 1961 it was purchased by the London manufacturing silversmiths, C. J. Vander Ltd. Traditionally, Roberts and Belk had a ‘high-class’ goods range – ‘ eve

Fork · Sheffield · 1936. Electroplate, stamped. By Walter Patrick Belk. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.