Help with identification

[CJandJT]

My Mom had this in storage. Any idea what it may be (if anything)?

The hallmark is a fleur de lis with 800 on either side of it. Sorry about the poor pic quality. It's the best I could do.

Thanks
Christian

[Waylander]

800 is usually an indicator of the purity of a piece. I know it is used (was used?) in Italy and other European countries for some time.

Waylander

[CJandJT]

Could anyone refer me to a good reference book to be able to find out what this is??

Thanks

[budtz57]

Hi

Try french hallmarks, fleur de lis was royalty and was used widely! Also
the very elaborate style could by french.

Regards Lone

[admin]

Hi All,
The fleur d'lys, is most often found on pre-19th century French silver, but it was also used in Austria-Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Czechoslovakia, to name a few.
As a French mark, it would have been used inconjunction with a number of other marks, and not with a silver purity number. I tend to agree with Waylander, I'd guess the set to be German or Italian (both favored the .800 standard and both used numerical marks to indicate it) and made between 1880 & 1920 and the Fleur, in this context, to be a mark adopted by an individual maker.
Regards, Tom

ps. You've got a helluva set there, that dragon motif is super!

[8facher]

Hi @all

i prefer the german solution:
before setting the standard with halfmoon and crown (in 1884/1888) the german silver was marked (i´ve seen that many times on cutlery) with two times "800", to indicate the purity of silver.

I don´t think that it is Italian, because i miss the star and the manufacturer 's registration number.
Here is a short description for Italian silver marks:
Metal content stamps and Identification Marks:
In order to be worked, silver is alloyed with copper in different proportions fixed by law, which determine the metal content stamps.The legal metal content stamps for silver are:800 (circled) The alloy is 800 parts pure silver and 200 parts copper
925 (circled) The alloy is 925 parts pure silver and 75 parts copper
Silver cannot be manufactured or sold without a special license awarded by the Italian government. Each manufacturing facility is given a stamp showing a five-pointed star, the manufacturer 's registration number and the initials of the province where it is located.

About the fleur I can´t give you further informations. Sorry
Perhaps you can post a better picture of the marks?
Take a photo without flash and use the "makro" of your camera!
Greetings from Germany
8facher

[CJandJT]

Thanks for all the help. I am trying to get in touch with my mom and find out where it came from. I think it goes back to her grandparents who traveled due to military activity.

I've tried to take better pics, but I don't have that good of a camera.
Will try and find a better camera and post some new pics soon.

Again, thanks for all the help!

Christian

[CJandJT]

All, thanks for all the assistance. Spoke with my mom about the set and she told me my great great grandmother bought it in Italy. Still haven't been able to find out anything, but at least I have a starting place.

Christian