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I don’t recognise the mark but with a large letter followed by a small one it looks very much like a mark from the Britannia standard era - possibly Jo for something like Jo(nes). If so, this makes it very late for an English apostle spoon. I would want to check very carefully for any sign that it m...

It's a bodkin, used for threading tape etc.

Possibly orange spoons, cf. the more modern grapefruit spoon for bowl shape.

I think AG2012 is perhaps being a little too categoric about the use of mote spoons. I am not aware of any hard evidence for how they were used though Ian Pickford, in his book “Silver Flatware” did put forward the case for the use AG2012 describes. There are others who are less convinced and, unles...

Is BF not for Brüder Frank — the brothers Eduard, Anton and Rudolf Frank who founded their Vienna Gold and Silver Workshop in 1887? That is, Frank is the surname here, not a first name, or so I gather from the Frank family website, Frankfamilie.com.

Yes, but the form of the spoon as a whole is certainly not early English. Just going by the appearance I would have thought it is a historicist piece of circa 1900 from Germany or the Netherlands, though, if it is silver, marks or pseudo marks would normally be present in either of those cases.

Should have added that it is normal for the Leopard's Head (or other town mark) to be left out on small items at this time, perhaps to discourage the sort of fakery where the marks from a small object are transposed onto a larger one that has not been submitted for assay.

I make that William Nixon, London, 1818.

With reference to Aguest's comment about a single hole for salt, this is not just a Jensen peculiarity but absolutely normal for those of us who grew up in the UK and I guess also in some other parts of Europe. In my youth good form required you to put your salt on the side of your plate whether spo...

I am not knowledgeable about relatively modern SA silver but a couple of comments occur to me. One of the marks on the bowl and in the first two of Trev's illustrations is a lion's head. This is replaced by a Springbok's head in Trev's last illustration. Now, back in 1952 S Africa was still a monarc...

Glad you have been able to identify the prince. I'd be doubtful about the theory that the enamel remained in the Royal Family to become a gift to the future Edward viii. I don't think the Prince Regent would have been seen as a desirable role model. (And with hindsight, his morganatic marriage to th...

Not my area of expertise so I risk misleading you but I think this may represent the arms of a Prince of Wales. If so, the date letter of the hallmarks may help identify which one but the image is too small and blurred for my eyesight though I would guess the future Edward VII. The item looks to me ...

I hesitate to be dogmatic - styles and fashions vary from place to place - but I would think the M.E.A. is probably early 20th century.

I don't think liturgical. The crest is used by at least 6 British families according to Fairbairn's Crests (Bell, Boyd, Garvie, Kassye, Miller and Tough).
The position and style of the initials on the other side suggest that they identify a later owner.

Back to those named in the inscriptions. In my earlier post I rather casually assumed the original donor was the 3rd Earl. He would not have succeeded to the title in 1781 but referring to him by his later title would be explained if I am right that the inscription was added long after the event. Ho...

I should have added that it looks to me as if the two inscriptions may be by the same hand and done at the same time, i.e. Samuel Parr had the history of the basket engraved when passing it on, but that is easier to judge with the basket in hand. Of course, it may just be that the second inscription...

You might find it interesting to do a bit of research on the individuals named in the inscriptions. Dr Samuel Parr (1747-1825) was a well-known schoolmaster who had taught both the 3rd Earl of Dartmouth and the Earl's brother the Honourable and Reverend A G Legge. We have the Earl giving his old sch...

Glad to have been of some help. At the risk of grinding too small I think I ought to spell out a bit more detail about my suggested attribution of the mark to Thomas Justis in case you ever need a fuller explanation of the evidence. He has various marks entered in the London smallworkers register be...

A part set of three very similar spoons formed Lot 101 in the sale of the Martin Gubbins Collection (Bonhams, 18 July 2002) and were listed as by Thomas Justis, c.1770. The catalogue doesn't show the marks but I don't recall that there was any reason to doubt the attribution so presumably they were ...

I can see why you wonder about the 17th century but I doubt whether anybody would feel confident enough to give a definitive answer simply on the basis of photographs. One problem is that there has been plenty of time for historicist replicas of the early 20th century to get lost, broken and otherwi...