Lambert & Co

(active 1803 – 1916)

Lambert & Co was a prominent and highly prolific manufacturer, founded and based in England and operarting between 1803 and 1916. The business was run by hereditary silversmiths, the Lamberts, and their partners. Throughout its long history, the firm has produced a lot of marvelous silver pieces of the highest quality, won numerous medals and awards and gained worldwide recognition as one of the most outstanding silversmiths of the time.

The founder of the company, Francis Lambert (1778 – 1841), established the business in 1803. It all began with a small shop at 11-12 Coventry Street, that sold mostly jewellery and silver plate. At first, it was only Francis Lambert who ran the company, but as early as 1819, William Rawlings entered the partnership as the manager. It was also then that the company got a workshop of its own, situated on the corner of White Hart Court, Leicester Square. There, the firm’s artisans used to manufacture silver pieces of all kinds.

After Francis Lambert’s death in 1841, the business was taken over by his elder son, Francis Lambert II, and later by his younger son, George Lambert. That was under the latter’s management as the company got the name Lambert & Co. It was also George Lambert, who, in 1868, introduced the first brand hallmark. Later, the firm was continued by Francis Lambert’s II's four sons, until in 1916 the company was closed and absorbed by Harman & Co Ltd, which traded under the name of Harman & Lambert.

Splendid silver pieces by talented artisans of Lambert & Co were presented at many important exhibitions around the globe. For instance, in 1851, the company took part in the London Great Exhibition, and in 1862 in the International Exhibition. Two splendid large wine flagons by Lambert & Co., partly gilt and skillfully chased, won an Exhibition Prize Medal in 1851. Shortly after the pieces were bought by the Museum of Manufacturers, now known as the V & M Museum. What is more, under the management of William Rawlings and Francis Lambert, the company was entitled to ‘Silversmiths to Their Majesties and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent’.

Together with such iconic silversmith as William Comyns & Sons, Asprey & Co, and Barnard & Co, Lambert & Co is undoubtedly one of the most prominent and prolific English manufacturers of all time.