I too need help with a maker's mark, please

[jalex49]

This is an ornate magnifying glass (see photo) which I identified as French (see photo). The maker's mark looks to me like WC (also see photo). Any clues? The lion mark says to me that this is dated from 1819-1838. Does that sound right? There appears to be another small mark to the right of the lion mark. Do you know what that is? Thank you so much for your help. I am very grateful. Judith






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[admin]

Judith,
Have a look here -> British Hallmarks and then move on to the London Makers' Marks pages.

Regards, Tom

ps. please let us know if you can find any marks around the rim of the glass.
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[jalex49]

I so appreciate your response. I see the same lion mark appears in French and in English silver! Is the mark to the right, then, an uncrowned leopard, signifying London? That makes sense -- even though the person who gave this to me told me it was French. But I did not find the W.C. maker's mark in that list. And I don't see any marks on the glass or on the inside of the rim around the glass. The glass is quite chipped, however, so there may have been a mark that is no longer there. Can you narrow down the date at all between 1822 and the present? Thanks again.
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[MLF]

Hello Judith,

You can also try comparing your maker's mark to the ones listed on the following page:

London Makers' Marks 2

Best wishes

Mikael
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[jalex49]

Excellent! It looks like the mark is that of William Comyns & Sons Ltd. Can you help me figure out the date on this?
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[admin]

Hi Judith,
Comyns registered his first mark in 1859, the firm continued as William Comyns & Sons until sometime in the mid twentieth century and used very similar marks throughout its history. From your photo, it isn't really possible to tell which mark it is, but from the style it would appear to date to the late 19th or early 20th century.
There are a few troubling things about the marks; it should have a date mark (and duty mark if pre 1890) and the ring around the lens should also carry hallmarks, if only a partial set of them.
The fact that is has not a complete set anywhere and is missing some that were technically required is generally indicative of a made up piece. It is not an uncommon practice to make a pretty and functional piece from less saleable items such as carving set handles and buttonhooks. This may not be the case with your magnifying glass, but it seems a strong possibility.

Regards, Tom
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[dognose]

Hi,
It's hard to see because of the pattern, but it looks to me that there is a date mark (0) for 1889 and possibly a Duty Mark, or is it my imagination!,
Regards Trev.
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[jalex49]

I looked closer and saw that there is a "O" in a pointed shield cartouche. It's in the body of the handle, actually, adjacent to the other marks. It took me a while to find it!

Is it possible that the reason there are no marks on the inside of the ring is because it's so delicate and open? I can imagine it would have been very difficult to apply marks without harming the thing. You folks know better than I!


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[jalex49]

There is, in fact, I now see, a mark after the "O". I assume that's a duty mark.

I have learned so much from you all about what to look for. I truly appreciate your generosity.
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[dognose]

Hi Judith,
I really don't know but suspect that the plain sheet silver is assayed prior to being placed into machine dies, hopefully someone with experience of the manufacturing end of the process can answer this,
Regards Trev.
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[dragonflywink]

Seems to me that the frame of the magnifier would more likely be plated steel than solid sterling.

Cheryl ;o)
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[admin]

Comyns may well have made magnifying glasses with sterling handles and the optical bezel could have been made from any number of different metals or it could be sterling. If it were sterling, as a separate piece, there would be partial hallmarking, at least a lion passant.
My big reservation about the integrity of the piece is the quality of the lens bezel. Comyns was a quality firm, if they had made this piece from start to finish, I imagine it would have a proper lens bezel on the interior of the frame. I just cannot see Comyns using a poorly soldered in wire ring to do the job of retaining the lens, it is not up to their standards and they were certainly equiped to do a proper job of it.
Of course, based only on this small photo, there is a huge margin for error in my opinion.

Regards, Tom
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