Phoenix From The Ashes mark EPNS

[Essexboy Fisher]

Hello, I just go hold of a small, possible, hors d’oeuvres fork made in EPNS material. It is less than 9 centimeters long and no doubt was an Australia “souvenir” item as its finial carries an embossed image of the island of Tasmania.





After looking at the image on the other side of its finial I am confidently guessing that the manufacturer of the fork was the “Phoenix Manufacturing Co” of Melbourne in Victoria, a city just over the water from Tasmania.
In a section of the forum, Contributors’ Notes, Early Australian Silversmiths, “Dognose” has an informative, feature concerning “Phoenix” and here we can see an image of a Phoenix rising from the ashes.

Fishless

[dognose]

Hi Fishless,

Thanks for adding those images.


Phoenix Manufacturing Co. - Melbourne - 1927

See: http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... nix#p65378

Trev.

[Essexboy Fisher]

Hello this is like buses, it seems “Phoenix” marks come along one after the other. I was trawling eBay as I very often do and I found an interesting set of marks stamped on what looks like a salad server.



Here appears another set of marks featuring a “Phoenix” image and then remembering “Dognose’s” quote (below) from his “Early Australian Silversmiths” references I had an idea.

The Phoenix Manufacturing Co. was established at Melbourne in 1916. Starting from its small original premises at 181, Little Collins Street it was later to grow into the largest plating company in Australia.

The founders of this business were A.I. Ward, A.E. Bennett, and J. Sharp.

I wondered if it could be an earlier mark, possibly, before “J. Sharp” joined Ward and Bennett in the Phoenix Manufacturing Company. I know this is a bit of a speculation, but I thought the forum may be able to expand information or generate alternative identifications.
Fishless