www.925-1000.com

Thank you, Tom, for your consideration. I tend to think the spoon is American and not Brit provincial due to these facts, in increasing order of importance: the engraving is a monogram and not a crest, the finial is rather thin, there are no other marks, not even provincial pseudo-hallmarks, other t...

Thanks, all, for the correct info on Gethen versus Gilman, will put a yellow stickie in my Ensko with the info.

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Thanks, both, for your information. Here is a scan of the mark at 600 dpi (previous was 200 dpi). Unfortunately, I cannot take macro photos, only have use of a flatbed scanner, so focus, contrast and lighting angle are all pretty bad, but the best I can do for now. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/...

I have a 9 1/2 inch long, 64 gram weight Old English Pattern serving spoon with two maker's marks, script "Lewis&Smith", typical raised letters on sunken field, and with form fitting border, and also print "IWD", atypically for the time sunken letters on a raised field, no bo...

The spoon is a c.1800 Scottish Oar Pattern, though without any embossed or incised drop, 9 1/4 inches (23.5 cm) in length, 65 grams in weight, and is obviously made from hand-hammered sheet, showing a number of small folding separations, including the typical long one down the middle of the undersid...

Miles, if by converted, you mean something akin to "berryizing", I don't know. This site lists Watts' working period as 1835-1850, the end of which seems to me to be somewhat early for this kind of twisted handle, serrated bowl edge type of work. But such froo-froo is typically later than ...

Looks like James Watts (I had the same question a while back). See this link:

viewtopic.php?t=6289

The spoon appears to be a sugar sifter, used for sprinkling fine sugar over various deserts and such.

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Nice find, Miles. Seems pretty well established that the undocumented mark is that of the Williams brothers. I note that your tongs have what appears to be a tally mark below the makers' mark, indicating that the business had some size to it. That makes me even more curious as to why my tongs have n...

Is it possible that the marks have worn away? Thank you again for your response, Miles. No, this piece is in excellent condition with very little wear. The makers' mark is deeply struck and has the least bit of rubbing on the high points, the field shows the original matte finish. Any other marks, ...

Did you get that picture from Jackson's? I've never seen any version of their mark quite like this, it's usually much neater and in plain capitals. Yes, indeedy, snitched it from p.299 in Jackson's III. There's a nice clear image of the quatrefoil Williams mark here at -> http://www.925-1000.com/dl...

I recently received some fiddle pattern sugar tongs (bows) possessing only a maker's mark, JW over JW on a rectangular field. There are no hallmarks at all on this piece. The seller identified this as by James & Josiah Williams of Bristol, circa 1865. I see a mark entered for them in nearby Exet...

Thanks, Pat, the maker's mark you posted is closer than anything in my Ensko. I would be further interested if anyone could reference the apparent pseudo-hallmarks. Thanks again!

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Might someone identify the following maker's marks on some 5 3/4 inch long fiddle pattern teaspoons (identified by the seller as by John Wanless of Toronto, late nineteenth century, but I have no text on Canadian silversmiths to confirm)? Thanks for any info! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/n...

Might anyone recognize this maker's mark on an 8 1/4 inch fiddle and thread tablespoon?



TIA for any info on this maker!

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I know this is a mark for Vanderslice and Company of San Francisco: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/VandCo1.jpg What I can't find is the time span for the use of this mark. I have later pieces that are marked "VANDERSLICE & CO.", and suspect the bear pictorial mar...

Thanks, Granmaa, that may be it. The S, H and C seem to fit okay, the D not so well, looks more like an H, N or maybe R to me. I find my handwritten mark for S. Hayne and D. Carter in the margin of one of my references, but on a four leaf clover shape shield, not the square shield apparent on my and...

I have two heavy fiddle and thread tablespoons marked for London, 1852-3 as below. The hallmarks are fairly crisp, but the makers' marks appear to be from a very worn punch (as opposed to being disfigured later, both marks appear to share the same abnormalities). http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...

Hi! Just to help a bit (hopefully), American pseudo-hallmarks of the early nineteenth century, as yours seem to be, are "fakes" in that there was indeed no real hallmark system operative in America, save a unique system in Baltimore. So such pseudo-marks were generally made to loosely mimi...

The closest fit I see for the date is 1946-7 (capital print Arabic D with serifs, shield pointed at bottom). Sorry, I can't help with the maker, too recent for my references, but seems to me the mark has a later style befitting the date I've indicated.

SS

Okay, I know, it's next to impossible to attribute unmarked c.1800 American coin silver flatware. But, hey, let's give it the old college try anyway, eh? I just acquired five Old English Pattern picture/scroll back, small (a bit over four and a half inches in length) teaspoons, unmarked by the maker...