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Hi Forum, I have come across a few auction listings at prestigious auction houses for English plates with gadrooned borders dating from c1700-c1720. Occasionally, these auction listings will mention that the plates have been "reshaped" at the end of the 18th century or beginning of the 19t...

Funkel, this is great! The mark you show is certainly the same mark as the one on the spoons. Thank you so much for this! Translation of maker's mark reference notes: Mark of the goldsmith of Porto Antonio Moreira Branco, registered in 1898, transferred in 1925 to the respective widow and already ca...

Thanks Trevorg, I appreciate your input and your images provide good evidence, although I still seem to have more questions than answers at this point: ⋅ I have found examples of tazzas and the occasional dinner plate with maker’s marks and engraved arms facing upwards (see image below) &s...

Thank you AG2012! My immediate concern was if the royal arms were originally on an upward/outward facing surface and somehow ended up on the bottom of this plate due to "transposed marks" or "change of use", both of which would be illegal in the eyes of the Goldsmith Company's LA...

This plate arrived and upon inspection there is a faint outline of the royal arms on the underside of the plate and the initials 'AR', for 'Anna Regina', or Queen Anne. I think it is then likely this dinner plate originates from a set of perquisite plate: The great bulk of pieces of silver bearing r...

Thank you for sharing these interesting observations.

oel wrote:The marks seen on hand (hammered) made objects are those retailer and or maker's, pseudo or perhaps American marks or....?

It seems with 830 fineness, the piece is more likely to come from elsewhere in Europe as opposed to America?

An update with more information on the retailer and a tentative timeline that assumes Ourivesaria Popular continuously occupied Rua da Prata, 109 between 1900 and 1974: ⋅ 1900: Ourivesaria Popular established by Tavares & Ca at Rua da Prata, 109 ⋅  Previously in 1889: Pharmac...

Thank you for taking the time to answer to my questions, your responses were thorough and sufficiently addressed my concerns. I was not aware that French silversmiths were mandated to keep only a single maker punch at any one time. With no copies allowed, they must have been very careful not to misp...

There is gem from another thread HERE which offers some clues to identifying pieces 1793-1797. The first known mark of L.J.B. was deposited at June 12, 1797, as evidenced on the plaque an V, following the Arrete 21 brumaio an V, and shown at page 95 of the volume Nouveaux poinçons by J. Helft. (symb...

Following up my previous post, I think we should consider another possibility that was touched on earlier: A mark is rather like a signature - it isn’t always standard. Considering the variance between the marks is so minor (i.e. with or without a 'dot'), I think it needs to be considered that LJB m...

Hello Clapel, Thank you for confirming the timeline. Are you aware if it was common for French articles to be later engraved as such is the case with so many English pieces? Is it likely that the marriage timbale was of a plain form when originally made by LJB, and then subsequently engraved in 1807...

HI AG2012, thank you this is a great lead! It appears that construction of the storefront at 87 Rua do Carmo was completed in 1924, after which it was immediately occupied by "Ourivesaria Raul Pereira & C.a Lda.". The business was acquired a short time later at the end of 1925 by ouriv...

Hi Forum, I am hoping to identify the maker of this spoon set and have been at a loss for finding online resources with Portuguese maker's marks. The initial on the maker's mark looks to be the letter "A", and I haven't been able to decipher the symbol. It is a boxed set of 12 coffee/tea s...

Please disregard my previous question, I think you already explained this as follows: ...a lozenge punch without a dot between L J, associated with official marks COQ 1 / 85 and Greek woman 1, after 18 June 1798. (FIG. 6) In my opinion these objects, already stamped in the second half of 97 by Berge...

Thank you for the well thought out and interesting read! I am not qualified to offer the detailed reply that this post deserves, so I look forward to reading other's opinions. Your proposed timeline seems plausible, but I do have a question regarding the two statements: ⋅  Since two differ...

Somehow I managed to add an "r" into Cattell in my previous post.

It should read "William Cattell"

Thank you for bringing this interesting piece to discuss. The date is without a doubt 1778, and maker is almost certainly William Cattrell. See marks from another spoon attributed to William Cattrell with a clear date letter of 1778. You can see that both "WC" marks have: ⋅ The s...

The date letter looks to me like it could be 1778.

If correct, there are at least 2 possible makers:
William Cattell
William Godfrey

The marks found in the above references are similar, but a closer examination reveals some differences. Namely: ⋅ The absense/presence of a pellet ⋅ The turned-down accents on the "r", "w" and "n" ⋅ The size and shape of the "B" &...

Another result, this image showing the same mark but drawn with an "e" at the end.

American silversmiths and their marks, III - Ensko, S - Pg 214