Who made this piece Looks OLD Initials HSN ?bracelet?

[jcm]

I have a coupleof pieces I am tryingto find out about.Here is a pic of the bracelet or If anyone knows what it is called let me know.Who made it or whos marks is it
Thanks
James




I sometimes Have problemsgetting the img to work so here is a link also
[/img]http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa14 ... CT0477.jpg
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa14 ... CT0478.jpg

[kerangoumar]

This is filigree work and the silver is not sterling, 925 parts per 1000, but what museums term "low-grade" silver of 800 parts per thousand. With filigree there is always a balance to be attained between silver that is too soft or too hard. The technique is thus:

A very long, thin strip of silver is continuously folded down upon itself at an angle, making a strip of double thickness that is fairly flexible. This strip is rolled or accordioned or otherwise folded into the pattern, which is then soldered with small balls of silver at joints and for decoration. And there usually is a sort of frame made of somewhat heavier, plain silver.

This is an ancient art; the age of unmarked pieces is almost impossible to pin down with great accuracy but such aspects as fineness of the silver (physical fineness, not purity), fineness of the technique and colour of the silver have to be considered.

This is also a very widespread art. Although it has an intimate association with the Orient, exceptional filigree work was made by the Etruscans(in gold) and in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the Iberian peninsula. I personally have not seen any Scandinavian or Eastern European filigree. Filigree work is/was also made in North America - but with a shortcut, so a lot of it cannot be called filigree at all - the silver strip was not folded. (It is the folding that gives the "braided" look)

The bracelet is definitely older, (probably middle)20thC. I won't hazard a guess as to its origin though I am thinking it could be Indian because of its feminine appearance (though it does not have the stemmed bobbles masquerading as flower stamens that are so prevalent in Indian filigree). How accurate is the colour and can you post a sharper picture?

[jcm]

Hi
and thanks for the info.Very interesting.The color is somewhat off.It does have a slight yellowish tone to it ,but it does look more silverywhite then the pics show.Here are some more close pics
thanks and Hope someone knows the initials on it HSN

[dragonflywink]

I have seen many pieces of both antique and modern twisted wire filigree with and without granulation and applied elements from many parts of Europe in addition to those mentioned, including the Scandinavian countries, and Russia, etc., and also numerous pieces from Mexico and the South American countries. Have also seen a number of pieces from Morocco and Turkey. But given the look of the mark and 800/1000 fineness, along with the general design, the small discs and flowers - suspect that your bracelet might be Yogya silver from Java, Indonesia, if so, might date back to perhaps the 1930s-40s, but quite possibly of fairly recent manufacture.

As for filigree made in North America (Mexico having already been mentioned), Freeport, IL maker Dirksen Silver made some lovely wire-work filigree, have also seen twisted wire filigree as a base for plique-a-jour work on American, and more commonly, on European silver. Here is a filigree spoon from my mother's collection, engraved 1892, with the mark of Chicago maker Wendell, might be their production (perhaps by a Dirksen-trained craftsman) or the filigree might have been done by Dirksen on a Wendell blank:



~Cheryl

[jcm]

WOW!! lovely spoons. I have never seen them like that.I just recently got into the silver collecting area. I justwish I could finda resource online for jewelry silver marks. I am still curious as to the maker.
I also have another pricea necklacewith a heart stamped 925 on the ends where it joins the clasp it is marked 925 italy and then has a XS or SX marked on it. Curios as to its maker too.
thanks and maybesomeone will recognise the marks on either piece
thanks
James

[kerangoumar]

Try this email address - send them the pictures -btw your newer pix are much clearer and show the fineness of the work:

hs800-925@yogya.wasantara.net.id

THey are in Yogyakarta, where there was that terrible earthquake in May '06. My own collection of filigree encompasses works from North and Central America to China and, as I mentioned, I have not seen Scandinavian or Eastern European filigree, let alone have any. Well, it is always good to have the holes in one's knowledge filled in. The spoon is interesting.

Re the heart, the necklace sounds to have been made separately - in Italy, as you observe. You should post a picture. At least your items are marked; quite a few weren't, or were marked in Arabic - try finding the maker in that circumstance. . .

[dragonflywink]

Heh, should check my own bookmarks occasionally, can't say that this is much help, but there was/is an Indonesian maker using those initials for a mark, though this page appears to show an intaglio rather than incuse mark, and they don't identify the maker or dates.

http://www.djokja.nl/werkplaatsen.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

~Cheryl

[admin]

Hi Cheryl,
Good link, I've been working on a Yogya silver page, and looking over their site gave me the incentive to finish mine up and add it to the site. I've also added your link to the page.
http://www.925-1000.com/a_yogya.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thanks, Tom

[Doos]

Hi,

The page says that it was not until 1930 that initials were used on a regular basis to indicate the maker. There is also a remark that, sometimes, the successor of a shop simply put an extra letter behind the initial.
If the latter is the case then it is made by the successor of Harto Suharjo and is made not earlier than the 1950's.

[jcm]

OK
Yes great page.(also read your page on 925-1000) but,Still trying to find out more. Nothing really comes up in a search but I guess these pices are very collectable as I did read somewhere that a museum has allot on tour.
Any more info appreciated.