www.925-1000.com

HELLO

I need help to identify the hallmark on this sweet little salt dish. there are Arabic characters over the letters H Y. the dish measures 1 inch tall.

THANKS

Hi,

Not Middle Eastern, but Malaysian.

See Mohd Salleh & Sons Silver Crafts on page 6 of Chinese Export Silver & Far East Trade Information

Trev.

Wow that was quick! thanks.

Is it possible to narrow down a date range for this?

Hi,

The maker will be 'HY', who is unknown to me, the Jawi script translates to 'Kelantan', the Malaysian state known for its tradition of silverwork.

Trev.

Hello, I think I have another Kelantan silver item with the unknown "HY" maker mark. This is on a small condiment type spoon, 6.0 centimeters long.



The spoon finial appears interesting to me as it appears in a pseudo filigree style but through a lens it looks like "point work" presumably to represent a leaf. This spoon belonged to a pensioner I know who had a collection of other small silver items from Egypt and Palestine of the immediate post WWII period and I wonder if my pictured spoon was from the around the same era and help date the unknown "HY" maker.
Here is a Forum reference for the unknown "HY" Kelantan silversmith.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=24259&p=94779&hili ... tan#p94779

Fishless

Ps. Geographically Kelantan State is in the North East corner of Malaysia and borders Southern Thailand.

The initials HY which appear on certain pieces of Kelantan silver have been a mystery for some time.

See https://www.kraftangan.gov.my/en/craft- ... -craftsmen.

This concerns a skilled Malaysian silver smith, Allahyarham Tuan Haji Ab. Manan Bin Haji Yakub (Pok Teh), who has been designated a Master Craftsman.

In the second paragraph it reads

"As a child, he often watched his father's craftmanship work, the late Haji Yakub bin Mohamad, who was a skilled silversmith crafts for British officials besides receiving orders from the palace."

Haji Yakub died in 1977.

Could HY be Haji Yakub?

On a related note there is an interesting video about Kelantan silver at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxf46bGGJXo

Hope that some members find this interesting.

Damon

Hi Damon,

Many thanks for adding the interesting links.

Haji Yakub bin Mohamad must surely be the leading candidate for the identity of the mystery 'HY'. Hopefully now we have a name to work with, we may find something to link it to the mark.

Trev.