Miles
.
Fancyback Maker
Fancyback Maker
This maker has a very distinctive mark, and I'm surprised I don't recognise it. It looks like EM with a flower above.
Miles
.
Miles
.
Hi Miles,
I know I'll be teaching Granmaa to suck eggs on this one, but it seems like a good opportunity to raise a few doubts about the mark illustrations that are used in Grimwade's. Far be it from me to offer any criticisms of this great work, but it must be remembered that the mark images are photostat copies taken from the registers at Goldsmiths Hall.
The registers contain inked impressions taken from the maker's punches when the silversmith entered their details at GH. Very occasionally one gets to see a perfectly preserved maker's mark on a piece of silver, it is at this point, when comparing the perfect mark to the images in Grimwade's, that you can see just how much detail was often lost when the ink impressions were made.
A couple of examples that I've noticed recently are Grimwade's 2853, the mark of Thomas Northcote, in reality the device between the 'T' and the 'N' is a six-pointed star. On Grimwade's 2516, the mark of Samuel Godbehere and Edward Wigan, the central device is in fact a diamond and on James Tookey's mark, Grimwade's 1704, the device here is also a six-pointed star.
The point I'm trying to make, is that certain licence must be given when attempting to match marks with those in Grimwade's and not to be too quick to dismiss certain possibilities when the comparisons are made. That flower, or whatever it is, may look somewhat different when it appears in print.
Trev.
.
I know I'll be teaching Granmaa to suck eggs on this one, but it seems like a good opportunity to raise a few doubts about the mark illustrations that are used in Grimwade's. Far be it from me to offer any criticisms of this great work, but it must be remembered that the mark images are photostat copies taken from the registers at Goldsmiths Hall.
The registers contain inked impressions taken from the maker's punches when the silversmith entered their details at GH. Very occasionally one gets to see a perfectly preserved maker's mark on a piece of silver, it is at this point, when comparing the perfect mark to the images in Grimwade's, that you can see just how much detail was often lost when the ink impressions were made.
A couple of examples that I've noticed recently are Grimwade's 2853, the mark of Thomas Northcote, in reality the device between the 'T' and the 'N' is a six-pointed star. On Grimwade's 2516, the mark of Samuel Godbehere and Edward Wigan, the central device is in fact a diamond and on James Tookey's mark, Grimwade's 1704, the device here is also a six-pointed star.
The point I'm trying to make, is that certain licence must be given when attempting to match marks with those in Grimwade's and not to be too quick to dismiss certain possibilities when the comparisons are made. That flower, or whatever it is, may look somewhat different when it appears in print.
Trev.
.
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