A silver three piece Teaset by Frank Finley Clarkson.

Frank Finley Clarkson (1872-1957).
A three Piece Teaset, London 1946.

Clarkson ran a silversmiths’ business in the Market Place, Northallerton, from circa 1902 to circa 1935, registering marks with the London and Chester assay offices. He gave a silver dinner service to the royal family for the Queen’s Doll-house in 1923. His early pieces were in a distinctly arts and crafts style but his later pieces exhibit an ‘Art Deco’ plainness, with a smoother surface. He continued, however, to deliberately retain a degree of roughness to interior surfaces and a simplicity of manufacturing technique.

There is an interesting history of Clarkson’s Yard in Northallerton, published by Katherine Lart of the Northallerton and District Local History Society [August 2015] which includes further information about Frank Clarkson and has an image of him in his workshop with the teapot from this service visible on his bench.