Postby crewenna » Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:15 am
Oh my goodness - it's now over a year since I posted this and hadn't realised I had replies! (Should I not get notifications about replies? Perhaps I hadn't ticked the box!) So sorry about that, Jay T and Maurice (Francais)!
Thanks for your attempts at helping with this. Yes, Maurice, I would agree that the maker may well be SP rather than SR. But no, Jay T, I cannot make out anything more on the maker's mark than what you can see in the photograph.
What doesn't show on my photograph of the entire tastevin is an inscription on the other side, reading "A Bichot et Cie 1931" which I realise has no significance in establishing a date, as it is probably a commemorative piece - possibly a centenary of Bichot's vineyards? - which would fit in with your suggestion, Maurice, that it is post 1920. Another feature which strikes me as 'modern' and machine-made, is the fact that the handle is made from silver wire rather than a flattened section.
I managed to glean one more piece of information from the seller who told me that, when he lived in France some years ago, he had bought it from the Dubuis family at St Emilion.
I will be posting photographs in a few days of a serpent-handle tastevin, the hallmarks of which I am having trouble understanding, and I'd appreciate any observations on that one too!
Many thanks for your help, and again my apologies for my tardy (no pun intended) reply.
Mike