www.925-1000.com

Does anyone recognise the marks on this fork?

Miles

Hi Anthony,

I've never seen a lion passant quite like that on an English spoon. Also, the feathering around the border is unlike British work. I'd go for a colonial origin.

Miles

Thanks, Blakstone!

Miles

Does anyone recognise the marks on this coffee pot?

Miles

Hi,

That's more likely John Legg of Exeter. He was sending spoons to the Assay Office between 1809 and 1814, fitting in with your spoon.
John Lake was a small-time jeweller of Taunton. He sent 13 gold rings to the Assay Office on one occasion in 1800.

Miles

Does anyone know the marks on this good quality fork? I presume it's North American.

Miles

Thank you, Oel.

I might be able to help a bit. As for the frame or cartouche of the date letters, Assay Offices used more than one punch for each year because different sized and shaped objects require different sized stamps. You would think they would have kept the cartouches the same, but this isn't always the ca...

Thank you, Oel.
When and where do you think it was made?
It also has a French bigorne mark.

Miles

Does anyone know the maker of this spoon, maker's mark BI with crossed arrows mark?

Miles

Does anyone recognise this mark found on a button cleaner with an image of Africa? Possibly made in a British colony, I thought. The mark is tiny, so I can't get a clearer image. It looks like NJE. Miles http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h200/granmaa/button_zps29e79e74.jpg http://i64.photobucket.com...

After closer inspection I can see that the lid doesn't perfectly fit the bottle. Looking at some pipe smoking websites, it seems these contraptions are called wind caps.

Well done Trev.

Aha! This sounds like a plausible explanation.

Thank you for your help.

Miles

Hi Trev,

A marriage is possible. I'll have a really close look when I next see it.
If the top does belong on a pipe, why the rotating dome and mother-of-pearl segment? Maybe close the lid to extinguish the tobacco, and the translucent m-o-p to see if the embers have gone out?

Miles

Thank you for your responses.

The dome does rotate, but the grill is fixed to the mother-of-pearl.
I don't think it's an ash tray, the hole is too small to tap ashes in.

I'm stumped.

Miles

This is a 1902 pot with a glass body. The silver cap has a mother-of-pearl segment with a grill on the other side. The dome also rotates. It is stamped with the word PATENT, so it must do something clever. The only clue is that it was made by a firm called Barling & Sons who were pipe makers. Mi...

Thanks Trev!

Miles

Does anyone recognise the marks on these salt spoons?

Miles

I've found the Peter Cameron article in a 2010 edition of Antiques and Fine Art. Anthony Christian is the maker.

Miles