Is this a Robert Makepeace Bracelet?

[saltman329]

http://home.netcom.com/~portlandme/

Is this a Robert Makepeace Bracelet?

Can't quite find the RM in diamonds on any makers' mark charts.

[georgiansilver]

Appears to be London 1971-2... and I have no knowledge of who the maker is... Best wishes, Mike.

[saltman329]

I assume you mean 1791, not 1971....is this correct?

[saltman329]

Hi and thanks for the reply post. Can you give me a very brief tutorial on where you find your info? Thanks much!

[georgiansilver]

Information obtained from Jacksons Hallmarks.... 1971 not 1791... sorry. I am sure this will be corroborated by another person on here. 1791 mark would have the sovereigns head duty mark. the particular 'q' date mark shown is for 1971. Best wishes, Mike.

[buckler]

Very brief tutorial on examining silver.

Stage 1
Examine piece and decide what the item is. If say a cigarette lighter than a 20th century date can be presumed. If sugar tongs than any date from around 1700 to modern.
Determine likely date of item from style. In the case of the sugar tongs then an andiron style could be anywhere from 1700 - 2008, a cast pierced pair from 1760 - 2008, a bright cut pair from 1775 -2008, a pair with art deco decoration 1920 -2008. In all case the earlier dating likely to be true - but most styles got copied right up to modern times .

Stage 2
Examine marks. Never examine the marks until you have completed your assessment in Stage 1.

Step One . Look for a Lion Passant. If present the piece is, or proports to be, English. If not present , assume Scots, Irish or Foreign. Or , in rare cases, Britannia Standard.
Step Two . Assuming Lion Passant present, check for Sovereigns head. If present ,piece should be 1784 -1890 period.
Examine Sovereigns Head. Is it Incuse George, (1784-1786), George or William (1786 - 1837ish ) or Victoria (1837- 1890). The same test applies to anything that has the correct sovereigns s head and either a harp(Irish) or a Scots town Mark .
Remember that the provincial offices often used a Willliam head after 1737, and that several non UK assays involved a head, notably the French . And there were some Jubilee marks in the 20th century

Note that your piece has no sovereigns head, so is unlikely to be 1791.

Step Three
See if there are any town marks present. Note that the London Leopart lost his crown in 1822.

Does your Leopart have a crown ?

Step Four
Again assuming a Lion Passant present - is he Lion Passant Guardant ( face looking towards you), or merely Lion Passant (face looking forward )

Your piece has a Lion looking forward (although without practice this is sometimes hard to tell)

If Guardant the piece will be pre 1822 if London or could be provincial.
Step Four . Look at the form of the punch - the outline or cartouche. Compare this with the outlines in your marks book. For example the London Lions Passant Guardant are easy to distinguish into 1720 -1740, 1740 -1756, and 1756 - 1822.
Step Five
At this stage look for a date letter and try to match the shape of the punch and the lettering to the rough zone you've determined from the previous stages
Step Six
Look for the makers mark and try to find him/her/them .
They should be consistent with the above stages.

This formula will give you success in 80% of cases - especially if you have properly studied the marks guides for the various differences. The real clue is the Lion Passant/Lion Passant Guardant outline. You will hear silver people talk about the "Cottage Loaf" Lion (London 1740-1756) because it has indents on each side that makes it resemble a lop sided cottage loaf.
Or the "nipple bottomed Lion" (use your imagination on this one) which gave way in London to the "bobbled top and bottomed" Lion from 1896 - 1936.

Your piece has the cut cornered rectangle of the 1936 onward period

If it all sounds more complicated than you thought - you're right. But a study of style will avoid many mistakes, and reading the marks books many more.
As usual it gets easier the more you do - and we all make mistakes at times. Many , many times. Dealers are not infallable either - many make very silly mistakes at times to the delight of the rest of us !