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Recently picked up this mustard spoon with William Eley, William Fearn, and William Chawner's mark.


What is shows is the lion passant, Capital letter O, and a George the 4th duty mark. What it's missing is a city mark for London.


Can I assume that since they are listed in the city of London that this date letter is for London and hence 1829?

Did also notice that an older post on Eley, Fearn, and Chawner was speaking of a tally mark but unfortunately the images were no longer available. Is that what the mark is to the left side of the makers mark?


Warren

It's definitely London, but 1809. The Eley-Fearn-Chawner partnership only existed from 1808 until 1814; because of the partnership's registration dates and the assay year dates we only expect to see this mark with date letters M (1807/08) - S (1813/14). In 1809 it was normal that the city mark (crowned leopard's head) was omitted, but it would have been very unusual for the uncrowned leopard's head to have been omitted in 1829. When compared side-by-side the 1829 "o" is noticeably smaller than the 1809 "O" and of course the duty mark is the wrong one for 1829. The little "c" mark is most likely a journeyman's mark; i.e. the distinguishing mark of the workman who actually made the spoon.

Phil

Thank you Phil that is fascinating.

So was 1809 the only time when the city mark was omitted? Had also noticed that 1829 did not fit with the stated active period of their particular partnership but was not sure why. And were there a number of other marks used by journeyman? Or should I more correctly ask were journeymen's marks common?

My very best!
Warren

Let's also correctly identify the duty mark as George the III (1786-1821). Was also taking a closer look at the date letter. 1809 is an upper case or capital O verses 1829 as a lower case o. Using the chart at 925 makes them extremely difficult to tell apart. Over at silver collection the letters and the surrounding cartouche are more clear. Sorry Trev.

Warren

Obviously not a spoon but a ladle. Was surprised with the amount of rough wear in the bowl, what would cause that much damage?

Your thoughts
W

Here's a link to a thread on this consideration of ladle bowl damage. No definitive answer, but some thoughts on the matter.

http://925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=15549

Thank you my friend, most enlightening and entertaining. Had considering overly acidic mustard recipes but that seemed absurd. Toddle ladle mumbly peg, hmmm.

W

Greetings Warren, you write:

"Over at silver collection the letters and the surrounding cartouche are more clear"

Of what forum/website do you speak may I ask? I too would like a better reference as well.

Do you have a link?

regards, mitch

Good Morning Mitch,

What I was referring to was silvercollection.it/ Let me clarify that statement. I don't have access to written material at this point in my life. Silver collection does offer charts with variations on duty marks, city marks, and lion passant embedded in their lists. For me I always find that extremely helpful when attempting to narrow down a specific year.

Do attempt to pay attention to every little nuance of that mark cartouche included. One advantage when using a tablet ie; my iPad is that I can expand charts and images to have a closer look. Do also attempt to scroll across from one letter series to another to see if I can differentiate subtle differences between them not just upper and lower case. Reviewing precious post here at 925 is very much a part of that research.

With all that said and done posting my results here adds deeply to my knowledge. Having an opportunity to clarify my understanding with so many exceptionally people is what makes 925-1000.com the best site on the net hands down.

Have a very good day Mitch!
Warren