Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

PHOTOS REQUIRED - marks + item
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Bertie_
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2024 8:08 am

Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by Bertie_ »

Hey,

Normally I have no issue finding out silver marks but this one has stumped me. For context most of my silver is very old Scottish, but this one could be from anywhere as I know nothing about it.

I believe that this is silver plate, but I am not certain. The markings appear to be B, fleur-de-lis, G, within a sort of crown stamp indent, and then the most mysterious stamp below of an image I can’t make sense of. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
https://tinypic.host/image/Hallmark-close-up.08hPd

https://tinypic.host/image/Silver-side-view.08gBw

https://tinypic.host/image/Silver-front-view-full.08iMa

Image

Image

Image
dognose
Site Admin
Posts: 59368
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:53 pm
Location: England

Re: Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by dognose »

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

Please embed your images as very few members will click on links.

https://postimages.org (choose 'Share', then copy the 'Hotlink for forums' code) is recommended. Do not use Photobucket or Dropbox.

Trev.
Bertie_
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2024 8:08 am

Re: Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by Bertie_ »

Bertie_ wrote: Tue Jan 02, 2024 8:38 am Hey,

Normally I have no issue finding out silver marks but this one has stumped me. For context most of my silver is very old Scottish, but this one could be from anywhere as I know nothing about it.

I believe that this is silver plate, but I am not certain. The markings appear to be B, fleur-de-lis, G, within a sort of crown stamp indent, and then the most mysterious stamp below of an image I can’t make sense of. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
https://tinypic.host/image/Hallmark-close-up.08hPd

https://tinypic.host/image/Silver-side-view.08gBw

https://tinypic.host/image/Silver-front-view-full.08iMa

Image

Image

Image
dognose
Site Admin
Posts: 59368
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:53 pm
Location: England

Re: Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by dognose »

Hi,

That's great.

The lower mark looks like the lion of St. Mark. I'll move the topic to the 'Other Countries' section of the forum.

Trev.
amena
contributor
Posts: 1316
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:42 am

Re: Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by amena »

Hi Bertie
Your object is an incense vessel of typical Venetian shape.
The mark with the lis flower is that of the "sazador" (assayer) Zuan Piero Grappiglia (second half of the 18th century, until 1802, according to Pazzi's book)
The other mark is a "moleca", hallmark of the Venice mint, of an unusual shape.
Very often these marks are falsified, but in this case I think there are authemtic. It is quite rare to find fake sacred silver, and the screw "worm" would seem genuine.
There should also be marks on the foot. A photo of the latter would confirm the authenticity.
Congratulation, very nice find.
Amena
Bertie_
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2024 8:08 am

Re: Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by Bertie_ »

amena wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 3:38 am There should also be marks on the foot. A photo of the latter would confirm the authenticity.
Hi Amena,
Thank you for all of this information, this is truly fascinating and I would never have been able to find that out myself!

Image
The image above is of the underbelly of the main body, which has I believe the same mark as on top.

Image

As for the foot itself I could not see any marks, not stamp imprints unfortunately..

Image

Image
(Rotated 180° to previous image)

If the mark on the foot is a sure way for authenticity then I suppose this must be a fake, but it’s very interesting to me none the less
Many thanks,
Bertie
amena
contributor
Posts: 1316
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:42 am

Re: Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by amena »

The absence of marks on the foot is not necessarily proof of a fake.
What's inside the red circle, is it just a decoration?
Image
Bertie_
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2024 8:08 am

Re: Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by Bertie_ »

amena wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 9:08 am The absence of marks on the foot is not necessarily proof of a fake.
What's inside the red circle, is it just a decoration?
Image
Image

Just decoration as far as I can tell, the pattern is repeated around the base, just not very consistently.
amena
contributor
Posts: 1316
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:42 am

Re: Potential silverplate: B, Fleur-de-lis, G, unknown image

Post by amena »

Thanks for your image.
I can add a clarification: the first letter of the assayer's mark is not a B but a Z interwined with a P (Zuan Piero) Below is a well-struck example.
Image

As I said it is easy to find fakes, below is an example, unfortunately of one of my sugar bowls


Image
Regards
Amena
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