13" shallow dish; CR or RC mark

[scammell]

My first post here - this a large shallow silver bowl/dish, 13” diameter, 1.5” tall. (Tarnish gives it a non-uniform look, but it cleans up well and looks uniformly shiny. It is battered, scratched and worn, and shows no sign of plating. It melts ice quickly, is heavy, has no odor, and the black tarnish comes when rubbed with a cloth, so I am certain it is silver. I only say all of this because in another forum, someone assumed it was pewter, which derailed the discussion somewhat.)

It has two marks on the underside of the rim: one looks like “RC” or “CR”, and the other is a very elaborate set of initials which I cannot begin to decipher but include here as the script may be a clue to its origin. No other marks, no hallmarks. It may be from South America.

Trying to learn where this came from, who made it and when. Has been with the same family since the 1930s at least. Any help would be appreciated.

Problem with the "img" tags (all that shows in the preview is the word "image"), so am using "url" tags instead. Bear with me, my apologies.

RC/CR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/49018897@N00/50925398463/in/dateposted-public/
Top: https://www.flickr.com/photos/49018897@N00/50926213527/in/dateposted-public/
Bottom: https://www.flickr.com/photos/49018897@N00/50926213512/in/dateposted-public/
Initials: https://www.flickr.com/photos/49018897@N00/50926085776/in/dateposted-public/

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

Please embed your images.

Trev.

[scammell]

I had trouble embedding the images.
Can you help me with that?

[dognose]

https://postimages.org (choose 'Share', then copy the 'Hotlink for forums' code) is recommended. Do not use Photobucket or Dropbox.

Trev.

[scammell]

Thank you for the welcome and the advice. Here are the images!

[amena]

First of all I must say that all the tests you have listed do not give me the certainty that it is silver and I believe that several others think so.
In particular around the engraved letters it seems to see some pink color.
Could you do a more convincing test, perhaps with the proper acid?
You definitely won't spoil the dish.
Regards
Amena

[AG2012]

Hi,
Engraved initials, and single letters, done by previous (original) owner never help to identify of the maker.
Test for silver and search for real marks.
Regards

[scammell]

Hello,

Looking to get an acid test kit. If you have one you favor, let me know what it is.

Thanks for your replies.

scammell

[amena]

I believe that in almost every country there is an acid manufacturer for testing precious metals. You have to inform yourself in your country or on the internet.

This is what I use.