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Dear All,

I have a silver chamber stick from the Austrian Empire period and would be very grateful if anyone can help to identify the maker. It bears 2 'hallmarks'...the first mark identifies it as dating to Vienna 1840 with a silver standard of 13 loth (812/1000). The second mark is a set of initials 'PB', which I am assuming is the maker (?).

Research has not proved too fruitful so far, although I have found the following two makers listed on the http://www.silvercollection.it" website and am counting them as 'possibles':

- Bastiany, Peter 1837 — 1860;
- Berroyer, Peter 1843 — 1870.

Below are pictures of the marks and I would be grateful if anyone can help with who or what "PB" stands for.

I have also included pictures of the base, which is loaded, and the engraved monogram on the thumb piece - this reads "FSM".

Many thanks, Owen

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/owendobson/Silver/whole.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/owendobson/Silver/Hallmarks-1.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/owendobson/Silver/Hallmarks2-1.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/owendobson/Silver/fsm.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/owendobson/Silver/base.jpg

Admin edit; images too large

The PB stamp will be that of Paul Braun (and is one of the few Viennese marks which does not have raised letters in an incised field.) One small puzzle is that he was awarded his "Gewerbeverleihung" on 20 Feb 1841, which is thus after the date on the assayer's mark.
If you look at the table for the Viennese makers' marks for 1830-1850, the several names before and after Braun's are Daniel Steinhübel (awarded 3 June 1841), Wenzel John (27 July 1841), Paul Braun (20 Feb 1841), Adolf Heilsam (11 Dec 1840), and Franz Fritsch (26 Nov 1841), and the non-correspondence between the order in the stamp table at the assay office (these are sheets of copper or brass with engraved names of the makers, along with their stamped maker's mark) and the date on which they were granted their licenses leads me to believe that the date Braun was awarded his license may not establish the exact date on which he actually began production.

I don't see that the two makers you list ever worked in Vienna; at any rate, I do not find their names listed in any of my references.

Correction to my previous post: I checked another source, in which Bastiany and Berroyer are indeed listed. There is a maker's mark for Berroyer (quite different than the one for Paul Braun) but nothing for Bastiany. My apologies.

Thank you for such a definitive answer on the maker, I am very grateful to you. It makes me wonder why an assayer would agree to mark an item for a maker who was not licenced? I am not sure how long the process took (from application) to be awarded your "Gewerbeverleihung", but perhaps there was an understanding that if your application was 'pending approval' it could be marked??

Anyway, thank you again. Owen

The "puzzle" of the discrepancy between the assay date and the licensing date turns out to have been trivially simple: there was no assay stamp for 1841. The assay stamp for 1840 was also used for 1841 and 1842, and a new one was issued in 1843.

We can assume, then, that your item was produced in 1841 or 1842.

joris wrote:The "puzzle" of the discrepancy between the assay date and the licensing date turns out to have been trivially simple: there was no assay stamp for 1841. The assay stamp for 1840 was also used for 1841 and 1842, and a new one was issued in 1843.

We can assume, then, that your item was produced in 1841 or 1842.

Thank you very much for providing this answer, the puzzle had been niggling me...now I can rest in peace (at least with regard to this chamberstick!). I am grateful to you. Owen