The evidence trail starts from the most obvious suggestion that it might not be a Dutch 18th century knife; that being the name Charles Desprez, Bristol on the blade. Charles Desprez was a general jewellery business, working in Bristol in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. (Thank you Trev for your ephemera post). The next clue is a hallmark on the haft, which is a London import mark for 1892, with the sponsor’s mark being that of Samuel Boyce Landeck, a well known importer of Hanau silver. Taking it back a step further there is a Dutch standard mark, over stamped with an export mark on the other side of the haft and an Assay Office mark with letter M in its helmet for the regional assay office of Schoonhoven.
Those are all the “official” marks, but on the head of the haft there are at least six other “pseudo marks”. One of which I presume would give a clue as to the identity of the actual maker, but as I have not been able to trace it, I will have to leave that part of the puzzle and hope that someone else can solve it.
Paul.
