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Hi Agphile - many thanks - interesting to know kings pattern has been noted from a cape smith. The only other thought I had was perhaps American, but to me it would seem strange that at least 50 years after the American Revolution an American silversmith would use English pseudos. But possible. Then...

Hi Silverport - many thanks for the links - Frank

Hi - appealing for help with these silver teaspoons with psuedo marks. They are in large in size and in an unusual variant of the queens pattern. My first thought was Cape - they were bought in Cape Town - but am not sure that cape silversmiths did anything in queens pattern. Presume they are early ...

Hi All - any thoughts on these appreciated. two heavy tablespoons, bought in Cape Town as Glasgow, but feel they could be provincial. They have four marks at the base of the stem - so a little squashed - AG then what I think may be and anchor and then the marks are repeated. Have taken a picture of ...

Hi Trev - thanks - had a good look at the tray again in daylight today - I think the marks on the front are not marks, but imperfections that have picked up grime. And as for drawing - besides being hopeless at it - I'm not sure of what I see - changes from every angle. The three marks under the rim...

Hi All - let me apologise in advance - I am not sure where to put list this charming silver salver, which has a motto for the Royal Artilliery, but which I don't think is English, hence the colonial category - and I found it in SA. Salver measures 25.5cm, weighs just over 400 grams and appears to be...

Thanks Trev - a nice addition to my tiny but growing (slowly) Irish collection - appreciate the input. Frank

Thanks Trev for clearing up this mystery, the BP makes sense now. And yes Hutton et al did produce good quality items. So would assume late Victorian then. It has a diamond heel (I think that's the term) union at the back - sorry the back picture was so blurred I didn't post it. Would that help date...

Hi All Any help identifying this heavily plated presumably Victorian marrow scoop would be appreciated. Most of the marks are rubbed, but two makers marks, in two different punches read IB - I think. They look a bit like old sheffield or close plating marks. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks frank ht...

Hi all - any help appreciated with this old english pattern teaspoon with only a maker's mark MK and a very rubbed mark in which i think i can detect the bottom of a crowned harp could be a fancy v - sorry the photographs are terrible and one day i'll get decent camera. there is a makers mark on the...

Hi Nigel and Silversurfer - thanks for your pointers. Think spring is possibly the wrong word, the arms stand out at a slight angle as opposed to most tongs I've seen which are parallel, so you've got to put a bit more effort in to pick up a piece of sugar. Must admit it is through posts on this for...

Thanks Trev - appreciate it

Hi Joho - many thanks and my apologies for not seeing this earlier. been travelling. Looking at the marks certainly the Middle East could be an option. A friend thought he saw the numbers 800 in the long mark, but I don't. Not sure where to start though. Wish i could actually see something identifia...

Hi All - I am fairly sure these tongs are Hester Bateman, but would appreciate a confirmation, but what I am really asking is about the mystery mark - and it is quite rubbed - next to the lion passant. I don't think it is a date letter, but am wondering if it could be an early incuse duty mark. It w...

Hi would appreciate any help identifying the maker of this candlestick. It certainly feels like Old Sheffield, rather than silver plate and is constructed like old Sheffield - the seam clearly visible. The marks are on the rim. the drip pan does not come off. I don't know whether it is attached or s...

Hi Any thoughts on this arts and crafts silver vase would be appreciated. My first thoughts were Portuguese or possibly Italian, but hoping someone recognises the marks. There are what might be the remnants of some marks under the rim, but these could just be tarnish areas, they proved impossible to...

Hi Silverport - many thanks - another mystery cleared up. must admit I didn't think of nickle silver - but it all makes sense now.
Regards Frank

Thanks Trev for that excellent explanation of Scottish provincial marking - it all makes a lot of sense now. Regards Frank

Hi - am a bit embarrassed to ask on this one. I have a fiddle pattern dessert spoon that to me feels like silver - certainly wears like silver and no signs of plate wear in all the usual places - but has marks that look like silver plate. Could it be a colonial piece. I seem to think I may have even...

Hi Trev - thanks for the telegraph - much appreciated. C1830s fits quite well. There was a wave of Scottish settlement around Pietermaritzburg in the 1860s mainly in the Byrne valley and around Richmond and Nottingham Road. Once of the early settlers must have brought this fork with them. Still hold...