Postby kerangoumar » Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:47 pm
There were at least two Philip Oriel companies; one dealt in sterling and one dealt in Sheffield silver plate - it is unknown (to me) whether these were the same smith or company.
The other Philip Oriel company shows up in the archives at the duPont mansion and collection, Winterthur. That one was the reproduction arm of an antiques dealer with whom the duPonts had much trade, it was called The House of Philip Oriel and was marked as such.
The Sheffield Philip Oriel mark has the lion and unicorn supporting an oval containing a sans-serif capital P.
Your item's mark is similar to part 1 of a three-part mark on a sterling tazza that was sold at auction in December 2007. Part 2 is an almost-square containing a lion at right, holding a monogram and part 3 is below that, in sans-serif, stating "Sterling".
Have you determined whether this is sterling or not? could we have a picture of the entire object?
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