The hallmarks on this Sheffield silver fruit-knife denote a date of 1870 and the maker as Henry Archer (1830-1919).  He was from a family of silver chasers, who worked at Hill Street.  Henry was trained at the School of Art; found a job at Howard & Hawksworth; and then started business as a silversmith in Fargate.  In 1854, the silver mark ‘HA’ was registered by Archer, Machin & Marsh from Whitaker’s Yard, Fargate.  In the following year, ‘HA’ was registered by Archer & Co.  A subsequent partnership, which involved only Henry Archer and Joseph Machin, was dissolved in 1858.  Two years later, while continuing to work as a silver chaser, Henry Archer accepted a post as schoolmaster at the School of Art.  He retired from that post in 1906.   He died at his home at Norton Woodseats on 19 December 1919.  He was remembered as the ‘Father’ of Sheffield artists and art teachers, who was ‘fiercely antagonistic’ to modern art movements (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 22 December 1919).  His burial was at the General Cemetery.   He left £404.