London 1905 Hastings Souvenir Spoon, but who made it?!

PHOTOS REQUIRED - marks + item
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Walt!
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Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2020 7:53 pm

London 1905 Hastings Souvenir Spoon, but who made it?!

Post by Walt! »

Greetings all.
Allow me to introduce what I understand to be a Souvenir Spoon from Hastings, England and Hallmarked for Sterling, London, 1905.
It weighs 50.7g and is 110mm or 4 1/2" in length with the bowl, a pseudo 'Angel' coin, being 33mm or 1 3/8" dia.

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I understand the use of the motif of St. George slaying the Dragon on a souvenir spoon from that part of town made famous by the Battle of Hastings, but I'm ashamed to say that having perused at least eleventy zillion maker's marks, I've given up trying to discover who is responsible for this spoon.
As you can see, while the other hallmarks are deeply struck and about as clear as they get, the maker's mark appears to have been weakly struck and has become virtually non existent - just enough there to cause exasperation. To my eye they don't match at all.
I've seen curlier mysteries than this solved by the resident experts here, so I thought I'd put it to you all:
Firstly, and most importantly, are we able to identify the maker? I realise there's not much to go on but it looks as if it may be rather unconventional so that may provide a clue. Does the Reg. # 434078 help us at all?
And secondly, do the purity / city / year hallmarks pass muster? In numismatic terms, they appear to be 'double struck'.
Any and all assistance in figuring out what the story is with this spoon would be greatly appreciated, and I thank you all in advance.

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silvermakersmarks
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Re: London 1905 Hastings Souvenir Spoon, but who made it?!

Post by silvermakersmarks »

Hi and welcome to the forum.

The hallmark is fine. Sterling silver is guaranteed by the lion passant and the uncrowned leopard's head and date letter give London 1905/06.

I have spent a little while puzzling over the maker's mark and have to confess that I cannot make anything of it; there don't seem to be any recognisable letters and what is there looks as if it is in the wrong orientation.

The motif in the bowl is actually St Michael. St George is normally depicted as a mounted knight.

Phil
Walt!
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2020 7:53 pm

Re: London 1905 Hastings Souvenir Spoon, but who made it?!

Post by Walt! »

Cheers, Phil.

..And here was me thinking St. George had the monopoly on slaying dragons..
Yes, I looked at the mark from every which way, but like a piece of modern art, there's no easy way to tell which way is up.
While often oriented to conform with the other marks it's not always the case, as you'd know.
I'm pleased to hear you're satisfied they're OK.

Thanks again for taking the time to mull it over, we'll see if anyone else has any ideas.

Walt.
Essexboy Fisher
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Re: London 1905 Hastings Souvenir Spoon, but who made it?!

Post by Essexboy Fisher »

Hello, that registration mark dates about the same period as the hallmarks. The pattern number is1904-1905 date, and as Phil knows well, I like a bit of speculation on rubbed makers marks. Period wise could the maker's mark be one of those complicated marks used by the various incarnations of Barnard & Sons Ltd of London?

Fishless
Walt!
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Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2020 7:53 pm

Re: London 1905 Hastings Souvenir Spoon, but who made it?!

Post by Walt! »

Hey Fishless,

Cheers for having a go.
I just had a look at https://www.silvercollection.it/ENGLABARNARD.html which shows quite a few examples of Barnard & Sons marks but nothing jumped out.
Since you mention you're a bit partial to the mystery inherent in rubbed maker's marks, check out the salt in my other post which I just put up. It has the very definition of a rubbed maker's mark...

Regards, Walt.
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