www.925-1000.com

I got this piece in an estate lot which had a wide variety of items. The first character appears to me to be a "J" rather than a "T". There is about 1/4" with no sign of lettering , then a real muddled jumble of two or three characters and the last four are unclear but seem more like "1744" than anything else. It looks like it was cast in three pieces - top half , bottom half, foot - and soldered together with center band concealing midjoint. The main material of the casting tarnished nearly identical to the outer plating The applied plate edge is slightly visible at the inner bottom edge of foot. There is small pits near the center and top band - I believe from soldering . There are also some small dits in the outer plate where it has pressed into air bubbles of the casting over the years. Where the Sheffield goes to the inside I really cant see a transition line from plate to casting but there is a clear difference between where it enters and further down in. The band decorations before overpolishing were a leaf of some sort. The whole piece is about 9 inches from handles to handle and weighs 26-1/2 ounces. I rubbed grease pencil into marks to highlight it. The cast is too rough to get a paper rubbing with anything intelligable. The hallmark photo is terrible but so is looking at it. The only hallmarks I have seen with this style J are John Proctor Trott and John Hancock but neither would fit 1744 as a year of creation. Thanks in advance to the hosts of this fine site.OK, that picture is about as clear as mud. Here is my rendition of what I think I see.