George V Silver Fruit Knife & Fork Set, Sheffield 1911

• Mother-Of-Pearl - Mother-of-pearl, technical name "nacre", is the inner layer of a sea shell. The iridescent colours and strength of this material were widely used in the nineteenth century as an inlay in jewellery, furniture, (especially papier mache furniture) and musical instruments.
  
  In the early 1900s it was used to make pearl buttons. Mother-of-pearl is a soft material that is easily cut or engraved.
  
  Nowadays it is a by-product of the oyster, freshwater pearl mussel and abalone industries.
• Canteen - A small cabinet, table or a box with drawers or lift out trays, for storing a set of cutlery.
• Sterling Silver - Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver, and is relatively soft and the addition of the very small amount of copper gives the metal enough strength and hardness to be worked into jewellery, decorative and household objects.
• George V - George V (1865 ? 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 1910 until his death in 1936.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• fruit service / set - silver items 102
• silver cutlery / flatware, settings - canteens / boxes 622