French silver spoon with unknown maker

[sebastian4743]

Here is another silver hallmark on a French spoon. I cannot identify the maker. Maybe you will be able to help me.

[JayT]

Hi Sebastian -
Please help us to help you. Are there other marks on the spoon? How do you know it is French? Where is the mark you show located on the spoon? Can you clean out the mark so that the first letter is clear?
Cheers,
JayT

[sebastian4743]

Hi Jay,

Is there a way to clean such a tiny silver mark? I have tried an ultrasonic cleaner + hot water but no luck. Maybe aluminium foil + hot water + salt would do the trick? What is your experience?

[Hose_dk]

if its french tthere are another mark, Not nessasary close to the one. Could also be hidden in the ornament.

To clean. I use spit - yes from your mouth - spit on the mark wait a few minutes then clean with a stick with cotton.

[JayT]

Admit that the spit polishing technique is a new one to me. The important thing is not to cause damage / abrasion. Please never use salt on silver, as it is corrosive. Suggest you search the Silver Care section on this forum for more suggestions.

Hose is quite right in asking about the other marks on your spoon.

Good luck!

[sebastian4743]

Sorry, the other mark is a minerva for sure. The makers mark is very small. I have tried to clean it in various ways but it did not help much. I can only see a B on the right and five dots on the middle (maybe a part of a crown).




BTW there turned out to be a kind of a white residue. The ultrasonic cleaner cannot get rid of it. A silver polish fluid and spit also failed.

[JayT]

Hi Sebastian —
No luck in finding the maker of your spoon. Here is why: I don’t recognize it straightaway, so must turn to a reference. The main source on the approximately 4,000 Parisian nineteenth century makers active from 1838-1875 (Arminjon) is arranged by FIRST letter of the maker’s name. There is an index of last names, but your mark ends with a B, a common letter. Therefore you’d have to sift through hundreds of B’s to find a possible match. There is also an index of symbols. I did look through all the crowns - assuming the symbol is a crown - but didn’t see a match. Another possibility is that your spoon was made after 1875, in which case you’d turn to the on-line reference from the French Ministry of Culture, also arranged by first letter of the maker’s name. Finally, maybe your spoon was made by a non-Parisian maker, in which case the mark will be very difficult to identify.

I hope someone else on the forum will recognize the maker for you.

As for the white residue, it sounds to me like at one time the object was cleaned with a silver dip product, causing damage.

[sebastian4743]

Thank you JayT for your time and reply.

I get rid of the residue with a horsehair brush. The surface of the spoon is quite corroded and the makers mark did suffer. Maybe another day I will find the mark "by the way". It is though a nice salt spoon.

[dognose]

Thereby hangs the problem, salt is corrosive to silver.

Trev.