Postby dognose » Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:02 am
Hi Ben,
Thanks for responding. My initial thoughts were also Chinese Export Silver, but the mark has been looked at by AVF, and he doubts that is the origin, certainly at least as Canton is concerned.
The shape of the cartouches are not without mention, for although the marks are crude in the extreme, the maker of these punches has taken the time to make each one different, as if working from memory from previous seen pieces. The backward 'E' may also bear this out, perhaps someone illiterate or not familiar with the Roman alphabet, but certainly the serifs were heavily implanted in his mind. I presuming that all the known examples were struck with the same orientation of the letter.
I should have stated earlier, that the marks were noted on fiddle patterned desert spoons.
Trev.