A rare Victorian silver wild boar salt, Joseph Braham, London 1880

Joseph Braham (né Abrahams, 1844-1918) was one of the children of Edward Joseph Abrahams (1807-1892), a furrier and fur and cloth cap maker and his wife, Mary Ann (née Lindon, 1816-1892). As Joseph Abrahams he is recorded as a gilt and metal worker in the 1861 Census, living with his parents and siblings at Aldred Road, Walworth, Surrey. By the time of the 1871 Census, when he was recorded as Joseph Braham, a fancy mounter, he was living with his wife, Clara in rooms at 13 Chesterfield Street, St. Pancras. He registered his first mark as a smallworker on 13 November 1875 from 3 Pulteney Street, Golden Square, Soho. Eventually Braham’s business was taken over and sold by his nephew, Sidney Edward Braham (né Abrahams, b. 1879). As J. Braham Ltd. the business was absorbed by C. & W. Padgett Ltd. in 1920 to form a new company, Padgett & Braham Ltd., which finally closed in 2012.

Among the novelty items recorded with Joseph Braham’s mark is a silver pepperette in the form of a parrot, London, 1904 (The Antique Collector, London, December, 1990, p. 16, Gerald Satin Ltd., advertisement).