Very ornate teaspoon with unknown maker's mark

[hpidaves]

I've never seen a teaspoon quite like this one before. It is extremely ornate, almost to the point of being too "busy". It looks like solid silver, but is quite stiff, so I'm not sure. The maker's mark is on the underside of the bowl near the edge. It might be Eastern European, but I really have no idea. There might be another maker's mark in the middle of the reverse of the handle -- last photo.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Dave

[dognose]

Hi Dave,

Check out this topic:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=51665&hilit=Orientalism

Trev.

[silvermakersmarks]

The marks are not maker's marks but British Design Registration marks. A key to reading them can be found here: https://www.925-1000.com/registry.html. So that means we can rule out silver as the material as there would be a British hallmark.

Phil

[hpidaves]

Yes, that seems to match my teaspoon exactly, right down to the registration date -- 31 May, 1880. Everything does seem to point to it being silverplate -- no hallmarks and very stiff/difficult to bend.

Thank you for all the great information.

Regards,
David