first purchase

[paulie]

I recently purchased this tea spoon and would like some help with identifying/confirming the hall marks, many thanks
.

marks.JPG

[dognose]

Hi Paulie,

Welcome to the Forum.

How do you read the second letter of the maker's mark, 'H' or 'K'?

Regards Trev.

[paulie]

hi trev
i think it,s P K
many thanks paul
also am i ok using silvo to clean it or would that be to abrasive ?

[Granmaa]

It looks to me like JK for Jeremiah King. Grimwade 1454.

Miles

[dognose]

Agree with Miles. Jeremiah King was a known spoonmaker.

As for the polish, Silvo is, I believe, quite abrasive, I've always found Goddards Long Term Polish gives excellent results.

Trev.

[paulie]

Thanks miles and trev
so a good start to collecting
paul

[buckler]

Nice item.
Welcome to the doomed !!!!
Once you buy your first piece - then you are hooked .
Still, there are far worse things to spend money on!

If you are a real novice then a few pointers.

Books I would recommend to buy - English silver

"London Goldsmiths 1697 -1837 - Their Marks and Lives " by Arthur G. Grimwade.
The price is high - but if you are interested in the period - this will give you much joy over the years. It's available from Amazon which also has a useful review of it by one of the 925 contributors.
Note .Grimwade 1456 relates, not to a date, but to mark No 1456 in this truly vital book on Georgian silver

"Jacksons Silver and Gold Marks of England, Scotland and Ireland" Pickford edition
Best to buy at an antique fair as the price there is usually well discounted by the usual suspects !
Very good on all assay marks and provencial makers. Totally outclassed by Grimwade on London 1697 - 1837 however

Points on dating by Assay marks.
There are a large number of clues to dating from the form of the assay Lion Passant. Look closely at the marks in Jacksons and you would note that the Lion on your spoon has the indents in the side of the punch only seen on London assayed spoons of the 1740 -1756 period (or , very rarely some Newcastle). So Jeremiah King seems a very good suspect.
Another clue is the presence or absence of a Kings Head duty mark. This only appears 1784 -1890.

See also viewtopic.php?f=38&t=17445

Happy hunting

[paulie]

Thanks Buckler for the pointers
lots to learn and mistakes to make (not to many i hope!)
paul