Silver Candlestick - Help w/Hallmark
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 5:50 pm
Any help in identifying the hallmark that appears on this coin silver candlestick would be greatly appreciated.
The city mark is that of Bratislava-Podhradie, Slovakia, although at the time it was part of Hungary and known by the Hungarian name Pozsony-Vártelek. It has been historically called Pressburg-Schlossgrund in German and English, although Pozsony-Castlemount is the preferred English name now. It is today a suburb of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia since its separation from the Czech Republic in 1993.
Whew! Now that all that is out of the way, the “1830” around the mark is the date, which agrees with the Guild Warden’s date letter “L”, also for 1830. “13” in the center is the silver fineness of 13 lot, equivalent to 13/16 or .813 fine.
The maker “FB” is Fredericus Becker, Jr. He was part of a talented Hungarian family of Jewish silversmiths about whom very little biographical information exists. He was working about 1830 — 1845, and was son of Fredericus Becker, Sr. (working ca. 1800-1826) and probably the brother of Johannes Becker (working 1826-1834), both silversmiths.
There is a fine article about the Beckers by Ilona Pataky-Brestyanszky in the journal “Jewish Art”, vol 19/20 (1993-1994), pp. 180-193. There, on page 190, figure19 illustrates a pair of candlesticks, all but identical to yours, also from 1830 by Johannes Becker (presumed brother of the maker of yours) and currently in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest.
To recap: 1830, Pozsony-Castlemount, Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia), by Fredericus Becker, Jr. (fl. ca. 1830-45)
You have a rare piece of Jewish history there. Congratulations!