Australian Sterling Silver Tankard by W.J. Sanders (1885-1946)

• Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
• 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.
• Tankard - A tankard is a drinking vessel for beer, ale, and cider, similar in shape to a large mug, and usually with a hinged lid. Silver tankards were in use in Britain and other parts of Europe from at least the sixteenth century, pewter tankards probably from the thirteenth. In the 19th century a number of ornately carved ivory tankards were produced, but these were designed to demonstrate the skill of the carver, rather than for day to day use. The shapes of tankards vary, sometimes globular, sometimes a tapering concave. For those with lids, the lid usually includes a thumbpiece that the drinker can hold down to keep the lid open. Variation in the design of the thumbpiece include wedge, ball and wedge, ball, hammer head, bud and wedge, double volute (scroll), chair-back, ball and bar, shell, double acorn, corkscrew, and ram's horn.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• tankards - silver items 355
• W. J. Sanders & Co., (Australia) - silver, maker or retailer 43