Don't you just love the British system of marking?? But..those forks are plated ware....they would not have been presented for assay, that was only for sterling or higher grade. I can't fine a table telling the date letter styles for Sheffiled electroplate. I don't believe they were the same as for sterling. A quick lesson in Brisish marks. There was a "quality" mark...most often a lion passant, then a city mark which denoted the assay office In addition there was the mark of the maker and the date as well as the town. So...most British sterling shows 4 marks, town, quality, maker and date.....except for some cases where there are 5 marks..LOL! I don't know about marks on British electroplate. I wonder if they correspond to the date letters on the British registry merk?? Linda C Here is a link that might be useful: More about English plated ware

Did an eBay search for this pattern in sterling. Did not see a butter knife, but here is a description for the regular knife.Can we assume if the regular knife is marked, the butter should be too? "This is Vintage Oneida Sterling Silver Modern Hollow Knives in the "Michelangelo" pattern. I recently acquired these at a local estate auction. They are lightly marked Sterling Handle on the side of the blade. They are in good condition with only minor surface marks from use and no monogram or engraving (or removal.) The stainless steel blades appear to be the originals and are firmly attached to the handles. Each knife measures 9 inches in length."

Either 18/8 or 18/10 is good. The second number indicates the percentage of nickel in the product. The higher the number, the more rust resistence, so "10" is somewhat better than "8" in that respect, but either is good. But those numbers don't indicate the weight of the pieces, or how they feel in your hand, so I'd recommend you look at several manufacturers and patterns in person to get a sense of what style you like (casual? formal? traditional? contemporary?). Hold the knife, fork & spoon to see if you like their balance. Will the size & design complement your dishes? If you want to wash them in the dishwasher, make sure the pattern you select is dishwasher-safe. Once you've identified a pattern, you can do your price comparison shopping. Flatware is usually sold by the number of place settings (for 8 people, etc.), so make sure you're comparing like sets. A "place setting" is usually five pieces -- dinner knife, dinner fork, salad fork, tablespoon and teaspoon (not iced teaspoon). Also check to see what additio.nal types of accessory pieces are available for that pattern These may be called "completer" or "server" or "hostess" sets.

Romy, do you realize that this could be YOUR flatware from ebay?? Forty years is about right for something to come back into style, I should have anticipated my urge for retro 70 stuff once the clothing appeared in stores. As to your mother's attitude towards your "dog dishes," I am certainly a kindred spirit because my own mother believes that honesty is the ONLY policy, iykwim :-) Thanks for all the comments and suggestions (well, except for Fun's painting, lol). I am still hoping that the table with no cloth or runner will be the best foil for these dishes. Without the runner either green or red napkins would probably be fine and I have loads of other napkins that don't go with the runner to try out still. I believe I have gold napkins somewhere, as well as ivory and a green and white stripe which might be interesting. Or not! Thanks Kathie for mentioning the armetale water goblets, I am looking at them for this table setting. The only other glassware and crystal I have is too delicate for these sort of beefy dishes. I can't find any more of the pewter/ glass wine stems (have had those for decades) but I can mix German green stemmed wine glasses with the pewter goblets and the wine glasses I have and hopefully that combination won't be too jarring.