Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland
PHOTOS REQUIRED - marks + item
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42jbb
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Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by 42jbb »

Hi I have these silver salt cellars, they look Italian but I can't find the marks. Any help is greatly appreciated. Does anyone have any idea on where the salts are from?

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Best Wishes,

42jbb
dognose
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Re: Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by dognose »

Hi,

Possibly Stockholm.

I'll move the topic to the Scandinavian section to see if we get a response there.

Trev.
Qrt.S
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Re: Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by Qrt.S »

Undoubtedly some similarities with Stockholm's town mark. A mark like this (St. Erik) was used in the early 18th century (1703-1710), but the object doesn't look that old. In addition, where are cat's paw and year mark? Very uncommon for Swedish silver that they are missing. I don't vote for Sweden and not either for Finland, Denmark or Norway.
amena
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Re: Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by amena »

Hi 42jbb
The mark of the crowned man and the the legs with the lion heads seem very rudely made.
Are you sure it's solid silver ?
AG2012
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Re: Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by AG2012 »

Hi,
Compare with Stockholm mark of Ferdinand Sehl,circa 1740.
And Paul Zachun, Norrköping 1730 or 1741.
Not very precisely cut marks and no cat`s paw.
Regards
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Qrt.S
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Re: Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by Qrt.S »

I just realized that the three crowns/cat's paw is implemented 1753 before that the zick-zack line was used (what was the name in English?) therefore it is missing. Anyway, look closer at the crown and compare the marks. However, there is one narrow possibility i.e. Frantz Bergs 1725-1777 in Stockholm, but the hallmark's crown looks very different compared to St. Erik's crown for the period. In addition, the object's style....? I don't think it is him....but?
42jbb
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Re: Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by 42jbb »

Hi, thanks for all the ideas and comments. You have all helped me greatly.

Many Thanks,

42jbb
oel
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Re: Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by oel »

Qrt.S wrote:I just realized that the three crowns/cat's paw is implemented 1753 before that the zick-zack line was used (what was the name in English?) therefore it is missing. Anyway, look closer at the crown and compare the marks. However, there is one narrow possibility i.e. Frantz Bergs 1725-1777 in Stockholm, but the hallmark's crown looks very different compared to St. Erik's crown for the period. In addition, the object's style....? I don't think it is him....but?

Hi,

After introduction of the Swedish National Control Mark(triple Crowns-Cat's Paw) in 1752 , we still can find the tremulierstrich/tremolierstich, the zick zack line made by assayer taking a silver sample to test if the silver sample was of the correct legal standard of fineness. It was one of the various assay methods used in the 18th century.
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Henrik Wiitkopf, Stockholm, 1770
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Axel Johan Limnell, Växjö 1760
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Hans Petter Vogt, Kristianstad, 1796

Swedish town marks. In the 18th century, by or on instruction of the (town) assay offices, the town marks like St Erik for Stockholm probably were made by the silver guilds, a group of silversmiths or individual silversmith hence the roughness of the town marks and the differences in appearance of one and the same town mark.
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For more information see:
http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 61&t=48537
http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20#p146917


Peter
amena
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Re: Silver salt cellar possibly Italian bemused by marks?!?!?! Please Help?

Post by amena »

I came across this old thread almost by chance, and it seems appropriate to post some updates.
I believed for some time that this king with his funny big nose was actually a fantasy mark from a recent era, early or mid-20th century.
I had also found other objects on the web with this mark, all in 19th century Neapolitan or Sicilian style.
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Then I found these jars, in which the mark of Sir Alexander Ball is clearly recognisable.
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His mark seems genuine and this takes us back to the early nineteenth century.
This doesn't solve much: the big nosed king doesn't resemble any Italian or Maltese mark known to me. Then?
Sweden certainly seems very far away
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