Israel Freeman & Sons Electroplated Silver Charger. Marked on reverse IFS Ltd, Made in England. 

Condition: Good. 

Size: 14 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 7/8 in. 

Weight: 35.535 ozt. 

#3696 . 

Israel Freeman & Son Limited were registered as silver and plate dealers in London around 1900. Little information is available about him (or his son), but the surname originates before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and comes from the Old English word “freomann” meaning “Free-born man.” A vast family with a coat of arms, the Freemans spread to Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and America by the late 1800s. In 1928 the headquarters of Israel Freeman & Sons was registered at 23 Hatton Garden, the center of London’s Jewelry Quarter, but by then the company had moved from manufacturing items to solely distributing them, with his son opening offices in New York City to expand their market. Their symbol (IFS LTD with a hand holding a hammer) continued to appear, along with “Made in England,” on most of their goods through the 1980s, whether they were sold in England or America, indicating this shift in production procedure. They were known for a broad range of goods in a variety of materials from all over Europe, as well as their immaculate plating technique, which contributed to their wide appeal. At the beginning of the new Millennium a mother and daughter pair directly descended from Israel Freeman still ran the company and sold items through an online portal, although after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the website went defunct.

Good.