Spoon Marks

[sallief]

Can someone help with these marks? I know it is difficult to see them. It looks like the letters W J A S, and an anchor, a lion and a "u" next to those appear on the spoons. However, I would need a much stronger magnifying glass to make sure that was the case. The marks on one of the spoons is on the other side of the spoon's bowl and is very difficult to photograph. I'm assuming these spoons are collectibles, but cannot say for certain.

Thanks for any help.

Sallie

http://sv1.letmehost.com/img.php?file=s ... G_0466.JPG
http://sv1.letmehost.com/img.php?file=s ... G_0420.JPG

[Granmaa]

Looks like 1969 Birmingham to me. I've never heard of the maker.
I assume it's teaspoon size? It has a Scottish thistle as a finial, which I've seen before, but usually they're made in Edinburgh.

Miles

[2209patrick]

I think your mark is W.J & S. Believe Miles is correct on the date mark. I've seen this mark attributed to William Johnson & Sons in auctions. Have not been able to confirm this because my books don't have many 20th century marks.

Regards,
Pat.

[sallief]

Thanks to you both for your help. The spoons are of the "collectible" type and only measure 4 and 4-1/2 inches. Although born here, my mother spent most of her formative years in Scotland. She also traveled to England and Scotland about eight times between 1971 and 1986. She probably picked these up on one of her trips.

Sallie

[lindmcc]

I have a book that shows this mark as W. Johnson & Sons. The mark was registered in April 1937.

Linda

[sallief]

Thanks so much for your response. It confirms what Pat said.

Sallie

[larkfield]

Out of interest, I have a small collection of souvenier or collectible spoons in sterling silver. I had a quick look at some of these spoons and found only one Scottish spoon with Scottish mark. Nearly all the spoons had Birmingham mark including the London and Irish spoons.

[Granmaa]

I'd like to know an estimate of the percentage of English silver each assay town produced in the first two quarters of the 20th century.
It is estimated that London produced 90% of English silver in the 1st quarter of the 19th century.
I'd imagine that Birmingham was the most productive in the 20th century, based purely on the small amount of items that I've seen.

Miles

[admin]

The Assay offices figures for gold and silver assayed in Birmingham tell a similar story. To take just a few years at random, in 1774 17,000 ounces were assayed; 1837 111,000; 1890 1,471,000; 1913 4,639,000; 1932 2,389,000; 1953 569,000; 1972 1,423,000.

Today, Birmingham’s Assay Office is the busiest in the world, testing between 40,000 and 80,000 items each working day. It is said that when the trade was at its peak in the early nineteen hundreds, there were more people employed in jewellery manufacture in Birmingham than in any other city in the world, and it is reported that 70% of all jewellery manufactured in the UK is now made in Birmingham, which has long surpassed London as a centre of jewellery manufacture.

Not quite what you're looking for, but at least some stats on Birminghams rise. The quotes are from
http://jquarter.members.beeb.net/walk5.htm

regards, Tom