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Hi All Any thoughts appreciated on identifying the maker of this rather large fiddle pattern soup ladle. it is simply punched JMd once. The front is monogrammed M. Measures 38cm and weighs about 230 grams. I have found a mark that matches this in Jacksons, which he attributes to an unidentified Cork...

Hi Miles Interesting spoon - any idea as to the length and as to what wood the handle is made from. I have nothing to offer but pure conjecture - actually it's probably a real flight of fancy. There was a South African Guild (or Suid Afrikaanse Gild) of silversmiths which stamped there silver SAG in...

Hi Owen - many thanks - frank

Hi Nancy - many thanks for your thoughts and probably the best explanation I've had - It may well be. My only concern here is that I am not sure fire starters would be made from silver what with it being a superb conductor of heat, but then again, many unlikely things were made of silver in this per...

Hi Oel
Many thanks Frank

Hi Oel Many thanks for the wonderful description of how to use this little snuff box. Gave me a good chuckle. It's good to know that this was a Dutch design and engraving is in the Dutch style. Keeping in mind the quantities of silver manufactured in the Netherlands as opposed to the Cape at this ti...

Or could it just be wishful thinking? Hi All - a bought this unusual double snuff box, where the one snuff box folds inside the other. And I can't find a mark on it. The only thing that makes me think it is perhaps Cape is an example listed in Weltz's Cape Silver. I have not seen another example of ...

Hi All - would appreciate any help identifying the maker and working period of this large French silver snuff box. Engraved all over, it has a first standard post 1838 (I think) guarentee mark on the one side of the lip on the lid, and a maker's mark I can't make out on the other. Something smudged ...

Hi All - would appreciate it if anyone could help identify the maker of this 1819 caddy spoon. Marks on the reverse are minerva's head - assay office letter rubbed - lion passant for second standard and makers mark looks like something over W in the old lozenge French style. The K for 1819 is in the...

Hi All - would appreciate any thoughts as to what this might have been used for. It measures about 30cm long is a long tube of silver with with a bent and flattened end one side and what looks like some king of mouth piece the other. It's too long for a straw. Could it be to fill a long necked bottl...

Hi Oel Many thanks for a most informative article. Forgive me for nit picking on a minor point of South African history. Paul Kruger was president of the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek - or the old Transvaal. South Africa was only formed in 1910 as a union of the two Boer republics - the ZAR and the Oran...

Hi Sorry can't offer any insight into the maker's mark, but the 3=9 might be a scratch weight - the weight of the silver sometimes scratched in some inconspicuous place on the piece as it leaves the silversmith in early pieces. 3 ounces 9 dwart would probably be about 106-108 grams, not unrealistic ...

Hi Mike Many thanks - my question about 1831 was more hypothetical in case the duty mark changed a month or so into the letter cycle. But you're right that it is probably B for 1825 looking at the marks as a whole. Now if only they had used nice clean Roman capitals. And it is far more unlikely that...

Hi Trev
Many thanks - it's a much better match. Not sure how I missed it.

Regards Frank

Hi All I have this lovely and quite monumental silver salver, assayed in London 1748, and attributed - hopefully correctly - to William Hunter. I would be interested if the crest can reveal anything about its original owner. And anything else on the style of the engraving and decoration. Salver meas...

Hi All Any help with this silver footed bowl would be appreciated. Measures 13cm in diameter and stands about 9cm high and weighs about 220 grams. It is marked under the foot with I.I in a rectangular cartouche - the I.I almost looking like a 1.1. The rest of the hallmarks are on the side of the bow...

Hi Martin and Mike Many thanks for your interesting observations - and my apologies for not replying sooner but I have been away. I have included another picture of the date letter - in the hope that it may clear up some mysteries. Unfortunately the marks in the box are very difficult to photograph,...

Hi Trev - thanks for this.
The D in the Weltz mark also has two large serifs to the left of the downstroke. But given the Cape style of the marks, and the fact that more than one punch may have been used and the other similarities, I'd be happy to attribute it to Collinet - Regards Frank

Hi Trev - many thanks - we just don't for some reason get to see very many early Birmingham marks in SA. Fast forward to 1902 and they're prolific.
Regards Frank

Hi All - bought this pretty book shaped vinaigrette as Birmingham 1825, and was just wondering who GW might be, but a closer look at the marks, especially the lion passant, makes me wonder if this is not an Anglo Indian or Chinese export piece. Any thoughts appreciated - Thanks Frank http://i288.pho...