www.925-1000.com

It there any technical difference between German vergoldet and French vermeil, or do the two words refer to the same thing (i.e., gold-plated solid silver)?

Yes, it's commercial, so please contact me privately if you want the link.

There is a place that sells a wide variety of "racks" and fabric for customizing or refurbishing silver chests. With the admin's permission, I'll post the link; otherwise, please message me offlist for the URL.

Diana

Well, I think we'd all agree that it's better not to get marks on your silverware in the first place, especially if it's silver plate. I have some silver plate that got marked by rubber bands, and no amount of gentle treatment has removed them. As it stands, I'd rather put up with the marks than wea...

Thank you! Google is usually the first place I go, but somehow I didn't pick it up. In fact, I still don't when searching on just Pflaumer, unless I add "silber" or some other term to the search, which I didn't think to do at the time. Fascinating history and workshop. I had no idea. Thank...

If you do a search at Google Images on these terms, you'll see numerous similar examples: "wedding cup" I have long thought these bear a resemblance to Minoan goddess figurines. Do another search at Google Images on minoan statuettes It makes you wonder how deep the tradition of these figu...

The arms have a heavy line down the middle. This suggests impalement, that is, two coats of arms representing the union of the husband and wife, with the husband's arms on the dexter side (on the shield's right — our left). Impalement can also indicate the union of two institutions or other entities...

Yes, I'm aware of how hatching is used to represent tincture. I was hoping you could supply an image that was clearer. The tinctures are perplexing because a basic rule of heraldry is that you cannot have color against color (or metal against metal). You have the metal gold (represented by yellow) n...

A coronet of nine tines with pearls would indicate a Count. It's consistent with an Austrian or German origin.

If you'll supply a clearer, brighter image of the coat of arms, I'll take a crack at it.

Never would have guessed in a million years. Kudos!

This mark is on a bracelet:



The seller is claiming it's WMF (Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik), which of course, it's not. When I point out that it's not WMF, I'd like to be able to say what it is.

Diana

At some point (by the 1960s I think), WMF (Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik) of Geislingen, Germany, was marketing is silver-plated flatware as "patent hartversilbert." Does anyone know when this occurred? Does hartversilbert imply a different/new process over its "Patent 90," ...

Thank you SO MUCH! I never would have dug this up on my own. I like to think I know WMF marks, so learning this one is important.

Diana

Thank you. I don't suppose there's any way to find out who got the patent.

This seller did not make a claim for the antler mark. I asked the seller for permission to use their images, and they said OK. http://20thcenturyredux.com/WMF/images/GEISLINGEN_90_DRP_fork.jpg The green tinge is an artifact from my manipulating the image. Of course, the fork has been modified by som...

It looks like a cigar lamp, a.k.a. , smoker's lamp. They were filled with oil and kept burning on the table for the convenience of smokers. They came in all kinds of shapes, most just looking like a typical "Aladdin's lamp," but are often on the tall side, so the smoker didn't have to bend...

I'm sorry I don't have an image, but I hope one isn't needed here. There's a fork online being called WMF that is stamped: GEISLINGEN 90 DRP 76975 and I see in the "Silverplate Marks" section of this site that "GEISLINGEN 90" is a WMF mark. Would this mark indicate the piece was ...

Just a comment from your resident (retired) zoologist about the punch ladle article: http://www.ascasonline.org/articoloOTTO67.html The shell-shapes in Figure 3 are called "nautilus" shells. Nautilus shells are a flat spiral, coiling in one plane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautilus The...

Please include a better image of the mark, and give the length of the spoon.

The pattern is an old traditional one called "Baguette." It was made by many manufacturers, so the mark is the key here, not the spoon itself.

I don't think that the two pieces want to be a set. For me it is a soup-ladle, a punch-ladle has a spout.

I agree. These are probably two pieces from a larger set.