JM - Australian or American?

[Granmaa]

A mark found on a c.1840 Fiddle pattern teaspoon. I thought it might be Australian because one of the marks looks like an emu.

Miles

[dognose]

Hi Miles,

I have that as the mark of James McBean of Melbourne.



See: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=18484&start=35

Regards, Trev.

[bstaunto]

Hi guys,

I have a teaspoon with these hallmarks too.

Trev, do you know your source for that attribution? Do you have a picture of the spoon too? I bought it attributed to James McBean, but the seller had concluded that himself (there is no record of these marks).

Miles, could we get a picture of the spoon? I'd be interested if it was the same monogram as mine (its quite worn on my spoon).

I'll try and take some photos of mine spoon in the daylight tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see if there are a few pieces out there by this maker.

Cheers, Ben.

[dognose]

Hi Ben,

Odd you should ask that question, as I asked the same of myself, that is why I wrote "I have that as". The image that I have in my files, I have recorded as James McBean, normally if there is some doubt, I record, possibly, probably, but in this case I did not, so at the time I guess for some reason I was happy with the attribution. Unfortunately I haven't got a clue where the image came from (there's also not one of the piece it was taken from), and may well be one sent to me from whom or when I no longer recall.

I've checked J.B. Hawkins 19th Century Australian Silver, I don't see the mark there. In light of this seed of doubt that is now firmly planted in my head, I guess we should now say that the mark is possibly that of James McBean. Hopefully another member can add something to this thread.

Regards, Trev.

[Granmaa]

Thanks for the lead, Trev.

Below is the crest from the two teaspoons along with the motto "Free for a Blast". I've managed to trace this down to a Clark family. After a quick search I wasn't able to find any likely Clark in Australia at the time, but if anyone else can I'd be very grateful.

Miles

[bstaunto]

Thanks for sharing, below are the photos of my spoon. I've spoken to two Australian silver guys down here and they have both said 'probably Australian'. The research will have to continue!

[TheBullionBoys]

Aussie silver guy here...
To me, the "Emu-like" stamp on the very left pretty much confirms that it is in fact an Australian piece.
Having said that, I've never actually seen this particular stamp before but will put my thinking cap on & see what I can find out for you.
Unfortunately, there was virtually no regulation of the industry at that time & therefore it makes finding information much more difficult than with the highly regulated British "3 Stamp Hallmark System".
Just by "eye" though it doesn't look American to me...but then what do I know!?!

[dognose]

The new edition of 'The Finial' arrived through my letterbox this morning, and illustrated is another example of this mark together with an accompanying article. The author comes to the conclusion that this is the mark of James McBean.

Trev.