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Hi all:
I inherited this great meat fork. I've researched the marks on the underside and think it was made in 1834. However, I cannot tell if this fork was made by James Brady or John Buckton. (I found a similar piece by John Buckton for sale in an online antique store.) Any help will be appreciated.

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

That would be James Brady. Buckton seems to disappear around 1825, so the overlap period between these pair would be 1821 when Brady registered and roughly 1825 when Buckton retired or died.

Trev.

Thank you so much, Trev. So nice to have someone who knows about these marks and is willing to help those of us with limited knowlege. :)

Best regards,
Anne

Hello Anne & Trev,

Anne.
The possibility there's a pellet (dot) between the initials may just be a trick of the light. Brady's mark had no pellet. If there is a pellet we may have to think again.
Trev.
Jackson's book page 643 identifies a J Brady active in 1803 using a very similar mark to the one here (assuming there's no pellet). A different J Brady do you think?

Regards,
Mike

Hi Mike,

Sorry for the late reply, it went clean out of my head (It's an age thing!).

I'm not aware of the J. Brady of whom Jackson mentioned as working in 1803, of course it may well have been one of James's relations.

The only other Bradys I'm aware of that worked in the silver trade in Dublin are the family of Nicholas William Brady (b.1734 - d.1808)(see: Robert Calderwood at viewtopic.php?f=38&t=8565&start=35), his son Francis Tempest Brady (d.1821)(described as a gold & silversmith of 45, Dame Street, Dublin) and his son Sir Nicholas William Brady (b.1791 -Lord Mayor of Dublin 1839-40 - d.1843) who appeared to follow his grandfather's business as a manufacturer of silver thread.

I did wonder about the coincidence of Francis Tempest Brady's date of death and James Brady's registration (1821), but can find no other connection between the two at the moment.

Regards Trev.