A monogram is a design formed from two or more interlaced or combined letters, usually the initials of a person, family or institution. In antiques it is found engraved on silver and glass, embroidered on linen, painted on porcelain and carriages, carved into furniture and cast into ironwork and gates as a mark of ownership.
Monograms became especially fashionable from the eighteenth century, and by the Victorian period elaborate cyphers, often surmounted by crests or coronets, were applied to everything from dinner services to bed sheets in country houses. Royal cyphers on presentation pieces and commemorative wares form a collecting area of their own. For collectors, an original contemporary monogram can add interest and help establish provenance, particularly if the initials can be traced to a known family. However, later engraving, or the removal of an earlier monogram, can thin silver and leave a dished or uneven surface, and such alterations reduce value. Buyers should look closely at the style of lettering, which ought to match the date of the object, and check that the surrounding metal shows no sign of erasure or re-engraving.
