I am new to the forum and have clearly made mistakes with my first posts, though I am not sure what they are. I have two questions that have received no answers despite numerous views.
I have an apostle spoon with a mark that I am hoping to identify. I posted under the title "Apostle spoon, partial mark, old or modern?" After receiving a number of views but no responses, I received the helpful message that members tend not to look at images that are linked rather than embedded. Although I followed the instructions for posting images, I didn't realize that there was a function on imgur that would embed images, so only the link to the imgur page appeared. That may have accounted for the lack of responses. I created a new post under the title "Mark on 17th c. spoon, with images" and properly embedded images of the spoon and the mark. I then replied to my first post with a message explaining that I had created a new post with images. The first post has since received more than 50 new views and the second has received 28, but still no replies.
I had hoped, but not expected, that someone would recognize the mark. My questions, however, were more general:
1) Were there any recommended resources that might help me to identify the mark?
2) Is the mark, which is round and has text running around the interior like the text on a medieval coin, consistent with 17th century marks, which seem to be mostly monograms or motifs? I would be happy to know that the mark isn't from the 19th century or later. The spoon comes from a collection that appears to be all 17th century pieces.
I am assuming that everyone who has looked at the first post has seen that there is only a link rather than images and has closed it without reading my questions. However, the new post with images has received 28 views with no replies. I am wondering why.
I realize that it may be that no one has answered my first question because the information is already available somewhere on the site. That would make sense. It is certainly reasonable to expect someone to do preliminary research before asking for help.I did search for prior posts with information about resources for researching 17th century marks. I found mention of Citroen's Dutch Goldsmiths' and Silversmiths' Marks and Names, but may have missed others.
I am more curious about the lack of response to my other question. I have received no replies, but I cant tell whether that's because no one has read the question or no one knows whether a mark with text is possible on a 17th century apostle spoon.
I'm sure that the lack of replies is due to some mistake that I've made. Perhaps I have posted in the wrong place, "Silverplate trademarks – worldwide." If anyone has any advice about what I should do to reach someone knowledgable about marks on 17th century apostle spoons I would really appreciate it. I have ordered Citroen's text but am unsure whether that will contain the information I'm seeking. The spoon could be English or of some other origin.
Thanks
