www.925-1000.com

Possibly late comment; WHERE are marks struck? On enameled part of the box or somewhere on the lid with no enamel? One cannot strike marks on gold or silver behind the enamel — it would crack. And it does not make sense one would strike fake marks and then enamel the piece — too demanding task even ...

1. Identify the country
2. Identify the crown (not difficult); imperial, duke, count etc (there are links to crowns)
3. If high — rank nobility (dukes) there is a chance to identify it. If counts or lower - almost impossible task, unless you are lucky enough.

Silver or not silver is NOT tested with a magnet; there are acid solutions which turn blood - red on silver (file it first deep enough where it cannot be seen). The deeper the red, the higher the purity.

Reconsider silver- plate in this particular case.

It is Diana’s head in both, the first has letter ``A`` in the front for Vienna. Town `s mark in the second (with maker’s mark ``EK``) does not look like A.
As for maker’s marks — I am searching for answers, too.

Thanks for looking;it`s OK you asked.Hoping we could identify who``FJ`` was.

Marks are registered in ``INTERNATIONAL SILVER HALLMARKS`` - by Tardy, France, there is edition in English. Marks were struck in Austria — Hungary in very early 19th century, i.e. by 1810, or so, a kind of ``duty`` mark. They appeared with various towns in the Habsburg Empire. There is no detailed e...

Terribly sorry; will remember that. Item 1 = mark 1, item 2 = mark 2.

http://i45.tinypic.com/35hn0ox.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/sybejo.jpg Tobacco case;gilded interior, translucent enamel and plique-à-jour, hand engraved décor. Plique-à-jour: temporary backing is dissolved after firing by acid or rubbed away. The technique is far more challenging than cloisonné d...

http://i46.tinypic.com/2mh5r80.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/1zfpls3.jpg http://i45.tinypic.com/347i3i0.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/rssxli.jpg Two Vienna sugar boxes (Zuckerdosen). This should not be difficult; there is a book with registered Vienna silversmiths and their marks,lent and was never retur...

There is an interesting way to remove excessive tarnish. 1. Plastic vessel 2. Place ALUMINIUM foil in it 3. Comfortably warm water 4. Dissolve SODIUM CARBONATE (NOT bicarbonate — baking soda) 5. Place silver on the foil 6. Leave overnight The foil will turn almost black. Most of the tarnish will dis...

http://i47.tinypic.com/33k4o68.jpg http://i48.tinypic.com/16m4uwi.jpg A pair of Vienna candlesticks, 1863, 13 loth purity.13 inches tall. The first letter in maker’s mark is not clear enough, the second is `` W``. The only way to decipher it if this mark is encountered with the same ``W`` and bette...

You can try to contact them.Unfortunately,people I know retired, but everyone is very kind and knowledgeable.It seems much has changed in Amagertorv 4 lately,including their stock of older GJ production. Georg Jensen Antiques Amagertorv 4 DK-1160 Copenhagen K Denmark Phone: +45 38 14 92 40 Fax: +45 ...

Thanks Mike, It is much easier to follow circulation of silver within UK with well established and centuries long tradition of assaying. As for Continental silver, agreed on this or not, it seems highly probable silver was over-struck and resold under more obscure circumstances. For example, not dir...

An unusual question; are there reliable and recorded data what happened to silver after the death of a silversmith.It is virtually impossible to assume the last item in stock was sold and then a silversmith left for a better world. Not every silversmith had family business to be continued after his ...

Thanks a lot dear friend from Austria,
Outstanding quality of 18th and early 19th century silver made throughout Habsburg Empire, even in remote provinces where old techniques were used as far as 1850.

http://i45.tinypic.com/24mcb69.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/2cwr9mo.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/zv8nb5.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/2wlvfrk.jpg Sebastian Garrard bowl. Circular bowl on four cast legs, pierced leaf décor and lion’s heads with rings on two sides. It is 7.5 inches wide and 3.5 inches tall...

http://i47.tinypic.com/jb4g7d.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/n3p469.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/10ckhh1.jpg Vienna sugar caster with plain round baluster body. Hand pierced lid and a cast riveted knurl finial. Six inches tall. Vienna mark 1777 and ``IGL`` maker’s mark. Any idea who ``IGL`` might be? Tha...

Additional comment; the lid was actually assembled of four cast peaces soldered together and the finial at the top was soldered, too. The lines of soldering are well hidden inside by filing and gilding but something cannot be hidden, or they did not bother to hide it; who would look for that? Namely...

LAPSUS CALAMI! It is SCHLEISSNER