Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

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Andreas
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Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by Andreas »

Hello. Im new, from Germany, and try to find out for what this tool (37cm long, part gilded) was made.
I hope you can see the Piktures, I uploaded them on Odessy.
The Marks are
Silver,
London,
Queen Victoria,
1873,
Elkiongton & Co. Manchester (Why Manchester?)
An litle mark maybe an granate?
And a bigger mark that could be a bigger Makersstemp.
The handle is Ivory, the stones are granades. Image
The (wooden?) case is very much formed like the tool, out side brown leather and the lower part with blue verlvet the top with blue silk, on the silk is a golden stamp Elkington Manchester in a arch above V R (Victoria Rex?) under that by apointment. In the preview I can not see the pikture, but i have all the time problems with the internet conektion, here the link again

Image

The underside is seadly sand blasted, and hides scratched in" be 92 "you can see in the pikture on the right, maybe an inventar mark? The Pikture overall is in the link:

Image
dognose
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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by dognose »

Hi Andreas,

Welcome to the Forum.

The item is a ceremonial trowel used for the foundation stone laying ceremony in the construction of an important building.

It was supplied by the Manchester branch of Elkington & Co. and was probably used somewhere nearby.

The maker's mark appears to have been defaced, and the small mark to the left of it is likely a journeyman's mark (the actual silversmith who made it).

See Tally Mark at: https://www.925-1000.com/silverglossary5.html

Trev.
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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by dognose »

Image
Elkington & Co. Ltd. - Manchester - 1915

Trev.
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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by Aguest »

::::: The "sand blasted" appearance of the silver sometimes confuses people because everyone expects silver to be shiny (unless it is tarnished) but there are some pieces of silver that were made with a "matte finish" so the silver is actually designed to look almost dull and not shiny & I have seen this "matte finish" on silver objects from Russia but I have not seen it very often on English Silver, it may indeed be rare to see on English silver objects, on first glance it does look strange if you are used to silver always being shiny like silver proof coins and shiny silver bars. :::::

:::::: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is an example of a special matte finish that just has the appearance of being sandblasted. ::::::
Andreas
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Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2023 8:35 pm

Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by Andreas »

Is that a single pice or could it have been in an katalouge?
Is there a possibility to find out for what it was fist made/used?
How rare is it? I have never seen another one with stones and such nice engraving.
Andreas
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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by Andreas »

If the makers mark was cancelled and "Elkington" hand engraved, was it made for some other maker and Elkington took it for a customer who wanted such item fast? I heard that such heppend also between cutlery makers, change the name out if a customer wanted a different mark (for the workshops who made them for different marks), or by it from another maker and add your own mark.
The "Sandblasting" look like it has been applied over the scratched in mark. It is on the right and a bid higher than the stamped marks. But in the forum version of the picture it is cut off. What I uploaded shows a bit more of the underside.
On the top is the sandblasted part in the middle, the engraved ornaments are spared.
In the free field are some deeper dents remaining. If it wasn’t that flat and plain I would have come to the believ that some light inscription was eradicated.
Essexboy Found
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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by Essexboy Found »

Hello Andreas, I think the trowel may well have been made by another silversmith, probably a specialist Jeweller silversmith from London. I do not believe Elkington's had a silver mark registered at London in 1872-73. That mark would need to belong to someone else and with such a prestigious piece of silver, Elkingtons would want to get their name on it. The mark looks like it was in 2 touching circles. Can you get any idea of what the original letters were? If you can sort out the letters, just check any London makers marks being used in the time period. I guessed C or G or O may have been the first letter. I came up with George Adams of Chawner & Co, working at the correct time but preferred Charles Boyton II (from another long line of silversmiths). If you get any candidates, that little mark between the Queens head and the maker's mark may give confirmation. If it was a journeyman's mark (the man that actually made the item in a larger silversmiths workshop), that journeyman may well have marked other silver made by him for that silversmith concern and can be checked for. It would be time consuming though. As regards the sand blast effect. Your use the trowel to ritually do the last bit of cementing (sand and cement). Perhaps it was so used and roughly cleaned afterwards.

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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by silvermakersmarks »

Elkingtons, in the identity of Frederick Elkington, registered an FE mark in 2 conjoined circles on 24th May 1869. It is quite probable therefore that the scratched-out mark is this one:
Image

Phil
Andreas
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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by Andreas »

I can not make out what the canceled Mark was. Yes, it was a Mark in two standing, touching ovals. But the first could be a G but even an S is possible. The second has a nub at the tip so maybe an I ! or J L . A little rectangular tool was hammered in, to flatten the signs.
The tiny mark is an granate or maybe a pineapple with smooth surface.
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Andreas
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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by Andreas »

I looked at the canceld makers mark more closely, it is more overstemped (with two different tools) than I saw bevore.
The only part that seems to be left over from the original mark is the very top in the left oval.
It could be Charls Boyton registert 1855.
How many marks are missing in the list that is on this forum, for London?
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Re: Trowel 1873 Elkington& Co. Manchaster

Post by dognose »

Thousands! Just to put things in perspective. During the thirty year period 1890-1920, the Birmingham Assay Office received registrations from in excess of 4,500 manufacturers, who entered over 15,000 marks during that period.

Trev.
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