British or South African Silver?

[maxixe]

I inherited a silver platter from my uncle which, I suspect, may have belonged to my grandfather or great grandfather. I am trying to identify where and when it was made but having difficulty in understanding the symbols on the hall mark. Attached are photos of the platter, including a closeup of the hallmark.

Before my great grandfather moved to South Africa in about 1880, he lived in various parts of England, moving around regularly as he was an Anglican vicar.

Any help in identifying the marks would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83836037@N ... hotostream" http://www.flickr.com/photos/83836037@N ... hotostream" http://www.flickr.com/photos/83836037@N ... hotostream"

Thanks
Alan Fitz-Patrick

[oel]

Hi Maxixe,

Welcome to the forum.
Could you please clean the marks with soap/warm water and a soft toothbrush and make a new and clear image of the (hall) marks.

Oel.

[maxixe]

Hi Oel

Thanks for the invite. I thought I may get asked to do that :-)

As the platter is at my ex-wife's home in Cape Town and I live in Amsterdam, I have asked my son to do that for me. As soon as I get a cleaner image, I will post a new pic of the hallmark.

Alan

[maxixe]

The hallmark has been cleaned up - here is a better pic of it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83836037@N ... hotostream

It would appear that the symbols are AB CW

Any help in interpreting what these mean will be greatly appreciated.

Alan

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

I've posted an embedded image of your mark as many readers will not click on links.



Trev.

[maxixe]

Hi Trev

Thanks for the welcome and embedding the image.

Alan

[agphile]

Well, they are not British silver marks and I am not aware of any S African silver marked with just two sets of gothic initials, but I don't know enough about S African silver in the late 19th and early 20th century to be definitive.

They look more like the marks found on silverplated or pewter items. It is not fair to judge just from a photo, but I did wonder whether this might be a pewter piece. Let's hope somebody else rcognises the marks.

[maxixe]

Hi agphile

Thanks for the response.

In the days when the platter used to be cleaned regularly, it definitely looked like silver. I know that shone pewter can look like silver so it could be pewter. Or silverplate, of course. However, I was always lead to believe that it is silver.

If I have no luck here with identifying the mark, I'll see if it is recognised as pewter or silverplate.