John Keith of Banff--Just Another Spoonmaker?

[dognose]

Much of the work that was produced by the Scottish provincial silversmiths is usually considered to be that of just flatware, and John Keith was no exception, you would be very hard pushed to find anything by this maker, but spoons. But John Keith was a very talented craftsman, as can be seen by this illustration of a Masonic Jewel made by his hand in the early years of the 1800's. The jewel was presented to James Paterson a former secretary of the St Andrews Lodge in Banff and is marked with John Keith's 'IK' mark.



John Keith was admitted into the Hammermen of Banff c.1789, elected a Master of his craft between 1798 and 1801, Boxmaster in 1802-3 and Deacon in 1804-5. He also became Free of the Elgin Hammerman in 1808, this was to allow him to retail his wares in that town also. John Keith died in 1823.

Trev.

[Granmaa]

His mark.



.

[smudge.g]

I guess the gold ring that I found, made by John keith is pretty rare then?? (claimed by Scottish Treasure Trove)

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

Can you show us an image of the John Keith mark?

Trev.

[dognose]

While we await the mark on Smuge's ring, here's an example of the work and mark of John Keith:



Trev.

[dognose]

Another example of the work and mark of John Keith:








IK - Salmon - B

Trev.

[dognose]

Another example of the work and marks of John Keith:






S - B (ribbon letter) - IK - F

Trev.

[dognose]

Another example of the work and mark of John Keith:








B - IK - Salmon

Trev.

[dognose]

M - IK - B

Trev.

[dognose]

A masking spoon by John Keith:




R - IK - Salmon - B

Trev.