An Arts and Crafts silver circular bowl, the shallow flared body chased with a border of six stylized apple trees with entwined branches against a hammered ground, all beneath a punch beaded rim, London 1896 by Charles Robert Ashbee for the Guild of Handicraft, diameter 39cm. Note: Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942) was an English architect and designer and was a leading light of the influential Arts and Crafts movement. He established his Guild and School of Handicraft in the East End of London in 1888. Inspired by medieval guilds, the venture was organized as a co-operative for skilled workers to produce hand-made goods, some of which were based on the designs of Ashbee himself. The Guild's craftsmen first began using silver in 1890 but it was not until 29th January 1896 that Ashbee, on behalf of the Guild, entered a maker's mark at Goldsmiths Hall. This bowl bears Ashbee's own maker's mark and must have passed through the Assay Office during the three months or so after the close of January 1896, making it one of the earliest pieces, if not the earliest piece, of hallmarked Guild silver to have been recorded.