Crestfinder seems to have tapped into a rich vein of public interest.
The popularity of the Family Heritage industry is well known in the UK but it is remarkable how many enquiries we are getting every day from visitors around the world (particularly in the US) seeking to identify their Family Crest.
I think the fascination stems from a human desire to visualise a surname as an image - a trotting horse for the Trotters, for instance! To then discover a piece of silver engraved with your Family Crest is deeply satisfying - and tempting!
Crestfinder currently only identifies British source crests, but over time more and more records on European and American heraldry will be added, allowing for the building 0f the world’s biggest online database for crest identification!
In the meantime, subscribe to our newsletter for updates and our team of researchers will respond whenever possible to specific crest enquiries.
To celebrate its return to our screens, I thought it would be fun to trace the crests of the celebrities profiled in the current series of BBC’s popular programme Who do You Think You Are? Beginning this week with Rory Bremner. According to Crestfinder, the Bremner family crest is A Cock’s Head Erased – very appropriate for a well loved entertainer!
Are there any celebrities crests you’d like us to search for?
I’ve now checked out the crests I was shown at The Original Miami Beach Antiques Show using Crestfinder (the magical and unique function on myfamilysilver.com). I’ll start with an armorial I saw on a smart pair of silver tureen covers offered by one of the dealers (as shown here):
As you can see, the crest consists of the upper figure of a woman holding a tower and some sort of plant. A search in crestfinder (which I can do, but you can’t yet…) using the simple terms “woman, castle” turns up a couple of crests including, as you can see, the one (on the left) we were looking at:
This crest, with small variations, is carried by a number of families including Aitkinson and Bailey. However, by checking the motto below the engraved armorial (“Cause caused it”) against the results we can (hey presto!) firmly attribute the crest to the Elphinstone family as shown here:
Now the dealer has a whole new way of promoting and adding value to his item (and the Elphinstones can buy back the family silver). Pretty cool, isn’t it?
Soon: Another crest challenge from Miami….
Building a website of the complexity and brilliance of myfamilysilver.com is quite a challenge, one that we are tackling with both hands to provide you with the best possible experience.
Writing books (my other hobby) seems like a walk in the park compared to collating, digitising and loading the details and crest images of some 40,000 families into the Crestfinder.
Fortunately, those clever web chaps at Datadial have not only achieved the seemingly impossible with their database skills but have also created a thing of great and lasting beauty. Thousands of crests come alive at the touch of a button. I can’t wait to let you loose on it nearer the time.
Even a heraldic amateur (like me) could spend hours of fun on it. Yet still, the benefits to the silver trade will be overwhelming. The icing on this considerably large and tasty cake will be the listing of regimental badges which will allow visitors to search for silver which is engraved with the badge of their old regiment. The interest in military history is huge so we expect this to be a highly popular addition to Crestfinder.
What is Crestfinder?
It’s one of the many innovations coming to myfamilysilver.com. It’s a one of a kind, purpose built database for the speedy identification of family crests by name or blazon! We’ll be talking more about the Crestfinder soon.
In closing, I’d like to pose a question to help us design the uploading of items into the site by our dealers. How many different, legally recognised standards have been used in the production of silver over the years? Obviously Sterling and Brittania in the UK, and 800 standard on the continent. But can you think of any more?
John Culme, who for many years has been connected with Sotheby's Silver Department, is author of several books and articles, including The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, 1838-1914, published in 1987, and co-author with Nicholas Rayner of The Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor. He is also a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths' Company, London. 
