Producer of metal ware. Founded by George Richards Elkington in Birmingham. the son of a gilt-toy maker he was born in 1801 and apprenticed to his uncles.With his cousin Henry and a number of assistants he was able in 1840 to perfect the technique of electroplating. The business traded under the name Elkington & Co. from 1861. G R Elkington died in 1865 after which his four sons continued the firm. The vast output of the firm included all types of silver and electroplate, from table silver and domestic holloware to fine display and art works. They employed many fine artists to design for them including Benjamin Schlick, Pierre-Emile Jeannest, Leonard Morel-Ladeuil, Auguste Adolphe Willms and Edward Welby Pugin, G. Halliday and Christopher Dresser