I bought an antique repousse cane handle that is also a small telescope.
I think the cane head image is too large for the forum, but you can see it at:
http://www.peoplespace.com/Silver/HCaneHead.jpg
From the hallmarks, I think it's English, from Birmingham and made it 1891 (as opposed to 1815). But I can't find the Hallmark yet. It looks like it's three letters... something like MHI.
If someone would help confirm my initial assumptions and then help with the silversmith, I'd really appreciate it. And finally, if I'm only to buy one book as a reference on English silver (with a fairly limited budget), which one would you recommend? In the meantime, I'll hit the library again and continue my search.
Many thanks,
jack
