www.925-1000.com

I originally posted this without a photo, and apparently no one could help. So here are two pictures:

http://sv1.letmehost.com/img.php?file=sv1/13/Spoon1.jpg
http://sv1.letmehost.com/img.php?file=sv1/13/Spoon2.jpg

I wonder whether "ALABAMA" is a pattern name or this is some sort of commemorative piece or souvenir. In case the marks are hard to make out, they are "D" in an oval, "&" in a hexagon, "S" in an oval, "BP" in an oval, and a vague shape that I guess is an anchor because that seems to be common, although honestly it looks more like a jet airplane.

That's all I know about this spoon. (In fact, I don't even know what kind of spoon it is. Baby? Sugar? Jam?) It isn't mine; I'm trying to track it down for a non-Web-using uncle and aunt. I have no idea how old it is, and I'm only assuming it's American because of the Alabama label. Thank you for any and all help.

One question - the "D" mrk - the spacing is odd - is there a chance that there was another letter before it? Maybe a J (yes, some people will know where I am going with this). If so, I may be able to help.

Waylander

Thanks, Waylander. Yes, I noticed that the D is off to the right, but I couldn't see anything else. Now I'm looking at it again with a 20x hand microscope, and there is part of a letter there; most of it has been obliterated or was not stamped right. I can see just the lower right corner of the letter. It's a curve that could be a J, but it could just as easily be part of a U, or maybe even an O. So, what would JD, or JD & S, mean?

If English, BP should indicate "British Plate", a trade-name used by William Hutton & Sons Ltd. of Sheffield. So what is this doing on a piece which might be by James Dixon or James Deacon?

This and the obscured JD mark sugest to me that this may be an imitation, perhaps by a devious Sheffied manufacturer, or more probably a foreign import or a Sheffield rip-off in the U.S.

With the hint about JD&S, I've been able to identify the maker as James Deakin and Sons in Sheffield. With a little time in Google, I found photos at silvermag.com of a piece with a very similar shape and the exact same marks (except the J is intact), dated to about 1890. Apparently what I surmised might be an anchor is actually a lamp(?). But I'm still wondering, what does "Alabama" mean?

BP might also stand for Britannia Plate? As in, Britannia metal (a formulation of pewter alloy favoured for its silvery appearance. The composition was approximately 93% tin, 5% antimony, and 2% copper)

The table lamp was the logo of James Deakin & Sons.

As for Alabama - perhaps the name of the retailer? I don't see JD & S hallmarking the piece with the presumed state it was to be sent to!

Waylander