Pair of Silver-Backed Military Hairbrushes in Fitted Case – Deakin & Francis, Birmingham, 1946

Pair of Silver-Backed Military Hairbrushes in Fitted Case – Deakin & Francis, Birmingham, 1946

On a gentleman’s dressing table, a matching pair of military brushes once belonged to the quiet rituals of everyday grooming.

Handleless “military” brushes became a familiar part of the gentleman’s dressing table in the nineteenth century, used one in each hand to dress the hair. By the mid-twentieth century, a cased pair with silver backs was a classic gift for a coming of age, a wedding or a retirement. Deakin & Francis of Birmingham, a family firm of silversmiths and jewellers founded in the late eighteenth century, made many such sets, and this pair was hallmarked in Birmingham in 1946–47, the year after the Second World War ended.

Each brush has a silver back engine-turned with a fine wavy pattern, with reeded bands at either end and a plain rectangular cartouche bearing an engraved monogram. The natural bristles are set in wooden bodies. The two brushes differ slightly in size, as pairs often do. They rest in their original black fitted case, tooled with a gilt border and closed with a brass clasp, with a pleated cream satin lining and a velvet-covered divider between the brushes.

The silver is in excellent condition, with no dents or dings, and the bristles are in good condition. The case is well preserved, showing only minimal wear consistent with careful ownership.

Key Details

• Maker: Deakin & Francis, Birmingham
• Hallmarks: maker’s mark D&F, anchor, lion passant, date letter W (Birmingham, 1946–47)
• Period: George VI, mid-20th century
• Material: sterling silver backs on wooden brushes; natural bristle
• Dimensions: brush 1, 11.8 × 7.1 × 4.1 cm; brush 2, 11.5 × 7 × 3.8 cm; case, 18.6 × 14.9 × 6.2 cm
• Weight: brush 1, 159 g; brush 2, 134 g; total including case, 611 g
• Condition: excellent; no dents or dings; bristles in good condition; case well preserved
• Buyer profile: a gift for a gentleman’s dressing table; collectors of English hallmarked silver and cased sets

Collector Appeal

The survival of the original fitted case adds considerably to the character and completeness of this pair. With their matching engine-turned silver backs, engraved monograms and identifiable Birmingham maker, the brushes offer an appealing example of mid-twentieth-century English silver dressing-table accessories.

Two brushes, one case, and a morning routine unchanged for generations.