Help to ID mark "NS" on covered Urn

[gncant]

I beleive this is a covered Urn, 13.5" tall and 4.6" in diameter. The mark is a "NS" in a block, I can not make out the other 2 marks. The piece is very light and the base is not weighted. Thanks for any help.
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[admin]

Please make an effort to describe the two other marks, the photo is nat at all clear.
Regards, Tom

[gncant]

The first mark, what I thought was "NS" may be "AS" both letters are enclosed in a box similar to the William C. Little mark. The second mark looks like an "A" with a swooping right side surrounded by a circle similar to the box of the first mark. The third mark looks to be a lion or animal kind of like the Knowles lion mark, but with only the lion and where the tail of the lion is, there is what looks like a "K". I tried taking a better picture, so far I have failed.

[admin]

Have a look at Berlin on this page, I can't tell from the photo, but you might be able to verify it.

German Hallmarks pre 1884

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[gncant]

The arrangement is the same, but the animal is not as stocky as the bear and the "K" could not pass for the "M". But the positioning is corrrect.

[gncant]

I just realized that the letter in the Berlin mark could be different than the "M", so the letter "K" is a possibility. The center mark could be a "14", indicating the quality of silver, the "4" could explain why it looks like a "A". The first mark is the makers mark. Does this make sense or is is wishfull thinking?

[admin]

It makes sense and may be correct, however, without a clear photo, there is no way to be sure.
Regards, Tom

[blakstone]

Definitely Berlin. The letter in the Berlin bear mark was introduced around 1745 and changed with the election of a new guild chief, who served, apparently, an indefinite term. The “K” in your mark was for guild chief/primary assayer J. C. S. Kessner, who served from 19 Jan 1819 to 4 Sep 1854. Unless otherwise marked, this mark guaranteed the Berlin minimum fineness of 12 Löt (.750).

Simultaneous with Kessener’s election on 19 Jan 1819 was the creation of the position of secondary assayer, whose mark was a letter of the alphabet in a circle. The “A” (which it is, not “14”) was the mark of secondary assayer B. G. F. Andreack, who served from 19 Jan 1819 to 20 Feb 1842. (It is to be noted that the “K” for Kessner and the “A” for Andreack is pure coincidence; both letters progressed alphabetically from A-N in the primary assayer’s mark and A-G in the secondary assayer’s mark.)

Thus, your urn is .750 silver and dates from 1819-1842. Identifying the maker’s mark might narrow that some, but I can’t make it out in the photo. I don’t have any maker “NS” or “AS”, however, in my (admittedly meager) list of 19th C. Berlin silversmiths.

Hope this helps!