A highlight of the very recent past was the day I was invited to examine a collection of family silver at a lovely home near London. The collection was acquired over many years, and consisted of some very rare silver spoons. One such spoon was an Elizabeth I example. It was a wonderful late sixteenth century spoon - and the finial was surmounted with a cast lion sejant-affrontee – which basically means that the top of the spoon is adorned with a figure of a seated lion who is

It may seem an unusual question, but have you ever thought about how people connected with each other before the age of digital technology? Your answer is probably a tentative "No". However, it remains a rather interesting avenue to explore. One example was the use of the calling card, or visiting card (equivalent to today's business card), which gained in popularity from around the turn of the 19th century. The accepted convention was to present your calling card upon arriva