Elkington & Co.
Other names: Elkington, Mason & Co. (1842-61) Elkington and Co. Limited (c.1880s)
Active: 1871 -
Function: Bronze statue founders, art metal smiths, gilders, bronze and ormolu manufacturers, medallists, bronze foundry
History or description: The company pioneered the use of electroplating in Britain. Elkington's had a factory in Birmingham from the late 1830s and offices in London from the 1840s.
In 1842 further capital was injected into the business by Josiah Mason (1795-1881), the successful Birmingham manufacturer of steel pen nibs, and the firm was consequently renamed Elkington, Mason & Co. The company traded under this name until 1861 when the partnership was dissolved.
By the mid-1860s Elkington's employed nearly a thousand workers and was firmly established as the leading silver-plate and electroplate company in the world.
In 1910-11 Elkington's took over 'Thos. Smith and Son', Glasgow and were listed as polishers and fine art finishers in the local trade directory.
The company has changed name a number of times during the twentieth century but has continued to trade under the Elkington name.
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited due to a lack of evidence about the state, medium or edition shown.
Locations
Business located at 18 Exchange Street St. Ann's Square Manchester | View on map
Business located at New Hall Street Birmingham | View on map
1856 (Presumed) - 1866 (Presumed)
Business located at New Hall Street Birmingham | View on map
1871 (Presumed) - 1877 (Presumed)
Business located at 126 to 136 Newhall Street Birmingham | View on map
1881 (Presumed)
Business located at 22 Regent Street London | View on map
1900 (Circa)
Business located at Old Mansion House 73 Cheapside London | View on map
1900 (Circa)
Business located at 13 Hatton Wall London | View on map
1900 (Circa)
Business located at 98 Commerce Street Late Queen Street Glasgow | View on map
1910 (Circa) - 1921 (Circa)
Associated People
Designers included William Beattie
1851 (Circa)
'The Triumph of science and the industrial arts in the Great Exhibition'
Employed Charles Toft
Atterbury and Batkin 'Dictionary of Minton' (1990), p. 311, no dates are given.
Employees included Pierre-Emile Jeannest
See Wilkinson 'Ceramic Artists' (2007), p. 85 and Atterbury and Batkin 'Dictionary of Minton' (1990), p. 279: no dates are given by the authors.
Employees included Charles Marie Willems
No dates are given, however, employment probably dated between c. 1895 and 1916. See Forrer, vol. 6, (1916), p. 505.
Employees included Michael Hewan Crichton
1907 (Circa) - 1919 (Circa)
See Townshend 'The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts', in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), p. 39.
Employer of Auguste Willms
To design electrotype versions of Greek, Roman, Renaissance and 18th century pieces (see Grove, 2006)
Owned by George Richard Elkington
With business partners including his cousin, Henry Elkington who was one of the original founders
Worked with George James Frampton
1902 (Presumed)
Forrer describes 'a coronation medal of King Edward VII., June 1902' produced/probably struck by Elkington and Co. that was engraved by George Frampton: see Forrer, vol. 2, (1904), p. 13 [summary].
Descriptions of Business or Institution
Listed in Post Office Directory of Birmingham with the Principal Towns in the Hardware and Pottery Districts, 1856 Post Office Directories
1856
Listed as 'Gilders'.
Listed in Morris & Co. Commercial Directory and Gazetter of Warwickshire with Birmingham, 1866 Morris & Co. Directories
1866
Listed as 'Bronze and Ormolu Manufacturers.'
Listed in The Post Office Directory of Birmingham with its Suburbs for 1871 Post Office Directory of Birmingham
1871
Listed as 'Bronze Statue Founders'.
Listed in Hulley's Birmingham Directory, Part 2, Alphabetical List to SAD-ZIN and Trades, 1876-77 Hulley's Birmingham Directory
1876 - 1877
Listed under 'Bronze Statue Founders'.
Listed in Hulley's Birmingham Directory, Trades Section, 1881 Hulley's Trade Directorires
1881
Listed as 'Bronzed Article Manufacturers'.
Listed under Art Metal Workers Hulley's Birmingham Directory, Part 2, Alphabetical List to SAD-ZIN and Trades, 1876-77 Hulley's Birmingham Directory
1876 - 1877
Listed as 'Art Metal Smiths'.
Listed under Art Metal Workers The Glasgow Post-Office Annual Directory for 1910-1911 Eighty-Third Annual Publication
1910 - 1911
Listed under Art Metal Workers The Glasgow Post-Office Annual Directory for 1920-1921 Ninety-Third Annual Publication
1920 - 1921
Listed under Medallists Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume II, 1904 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a 'London and Sheffield Silver-smiths, which has from time to time edited medals'; medals listed by Forrer include The City Corporation Medal (1891), Colonial and Indian Reception (struck in 1886), and 'a coronation medal of King Edward VII., June 1902, engraved by the artist George Frampton, R. A.': see Forrer, vol. 2, (1904), p. 13 [summary].
Listed under Medallists Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2206
Sources
A Dictionary of Ceramic Artists
2007
p. 85.
Hulley's Birmingham Directory, Part 2, Alphabetical List to SAD-ZIN and Trades, 1876-77 Hulley's Birmingham Directory
1876 (Probable)
p. 463 and p. 499.
Hulley's Birmingham Directory, Trades Section, 1881 Hulley's Trade Directorires
1881
p. 520.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
W. J. Harrison, ‘Elkington, George Richards (1801–1865)’, rev. Geoffrey Tweedale, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8640, accessed 22 June 2010]
Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2206
Slater's Manchester and Salford Directory, 1895
1895
p. 37
The Builder, Vol. 18, 11 August 1860
11 August 1860
p. 512
The Glasgow Post-Office Annual Directory for 1910-1911 Eighty-Third Annual Publication
1910
p.1080
The Glasgow Post-Office Annual Directory for 1920-1921 Ninety-Third Annual Publication
1920
p.1081
The Post Office Directory of Birmingham with its Suburbs for 1871 Post Office Directory of Birmingham
May 1871
p. 362.
Citing this record
'Elkington & Co.', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/organization.php?id=msib4_1213000359, accessed 29 Sep 2021]
