www.925-1000.com

Hi,

I have been searching for information on the marks of a fruits basket I own, I believe it is silver but I am at a loss as to where to look next :(

Here are the images of the mark and the basket, any help/information greatly appreciated.
I have linked the images as they are very large.

http://www.germannewmedicine.org.uk/mark.JPG
http://www.germannewmedicine.org.uk/basket.JPG

Thank you.

Hi Koo,

Welcome to the forum.

Silver plated.

According to my information; those marks are booked as unknown silver-plate marks.

Oel

Thanks for the fast reply, can you give me an idea of its country of origin and maybe a rough date at all?

Could be British and late Victorian

Oel

Yes- common pattern and have seen these marks before. Sheffield made, most likely circa 1860's. It's silver on Nickel, or was originally. Might be the colour cast but it looks like the silver is all but gone.

I saw a set on eBay.com all with the same mark, the seller commented they were advised it was german plate but an unknown mark, from around 1770.

I am thinking I will clean it, I have rubbed the underside and the colour you see in the photos are just natural patina and dirt, so its either silver or none of the plate has worn away yet, I thought about getting a brillo pad to an area on the bottom to get through the plate, what would be the best way to get through the plate on a small area?

I actually live only a few miles from Sheffield centre so wonder if it might be worth taking it over for someone to look at maybe at the museum there?


Thanks forr the replues so far :)

eBay sells a lot of crap; like in 1770 Electro plating has not been invented.
Italian chemist, Luigi Brugnatelli invented electroplating in 1805. Brugnatelli performed electrodeposition of gold using the Voltaic Pile, discovered by his college Alessandro Volta in 1800. Luigi Brugnatelli's work was rebuffed by the dictator Napoleon Bonaparte, which caused Brugnatelli to suppress any further publication of his work.
However, Luigi Brugnatelli did write about electroplating in the Belgian Journal of Physics and Chemistry, "I have lately gilt in a complete manner two large silver medals, by bringing them into communication by means of a steel wire, with a negative pole of a voltaic pile, and keeping them one after the other immersed in ammoniuret of gold newly made and well saturated".
John Wright
Forty years later in 1845, John Wright of Birmingham, England discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable electrolyte for gold and silver electroplating. According to the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, "It was a Birmingham doctor, John Wright, who first showed that items could be electroplated by immersing them in a tank of silver held in solution, through which an electric current was passed."
The Elkingtons
Others inventors were also carrying on similar work. Several patents for electroplating processes were issued in 1840. However, cousins Henry and George Richard Elkington patented the electroplating process first. It should be noted that the Elkington's bought the patent rights to John Wright's process. The Elkington's held a monopoly on electroplating for many years due to their patent for an inexpensive method of electroplating.Early electroplating was on nickel and produced many fine objects, which are now becoming more and more sought after by collectors. Many pieces were struck with pseudo-hallmarks and, to avoid confusion, this was made illegal in 1896 and pieces had to be marked EPNS for 'electroplated nickel silver'. There was no legal requirement to mark electroplated goods. So it is often quite difficult to precisely date an electroplated item. However some makers, such as Elkington & Co., actually marked their pieces with a date letter which is very helpful when deciding on their age. Most of the time electroplated pieces are dated based on their style and the way they are made, and this can lead to a fairly accurate circa date within 5 to 10 years either side.

If the base metal of your fruit basket is a nickel alloy it appears and looks like 'silver' called nickel silver.
Please do not damage your set with ‘brillo’ but have it looked at and tested in Sheffield.

Oel

Thank you for such an informative post, I will as you suggest take it to sheffield and will report back once I do.

many thanks.