Maker and town

[joho]

Hi - can anyone help identify the maker and town of this French silver beaker. There are 4 marks. Cockerel in oval punch for Provinces 1809 to 1819. Head in helmet facing right. Makers mark TG above an insect?? and another lozenge shaped stamp with script writing not very clear but something like TOURALLIEU ?? Apologies for the quality of the pics, but the best I can get. Many thanks John

[blakstone]

The first step in identifying French provincial silver is determining where it was assayed. In this case, the helmet should have a number on it: that number will correspond to the number of the Département in which the piece was assayed. Here's an example:



Here, the number "27" indicates the Dyle département, which no longer exists; it was one of the foreign territories annexed by Napoleon during the Empire, now part of modern-day Belgium. It's primary assay office was in Brussels, which was operational under French jurisdiction 22 Oct 1798 to 14 Dec 1813.

Can you make out the number? Once you've identified that, I'll see if I have the appropriate reference book.

[joho]

Thank you Blakstone. I have had a close look at the helmet but there is no clear number. Looking at different angles and light it seems that one number (maybe the only number) could be 5. I have also found another mark on the rim of the foot. Initially I thought this was a small blackened dent, but in fact it is a square punch with the letters ET above the letter D. There are also stamped letters, presumably a name: M MEREET on the foot of the cup. I hope this gives you a little more to go on. I certainly appreciate your assistance. John