Does anyone recognise this makers mark

[trevorg]

the mark is on a small spoon and is the only mark.
http://tinypic.com/r/dq28zr/6

[trevorg]

Apologies, did not read the instructions well enough. Now with pictures of the spoon which is 11 cms long. I have no history of the spoon other than I found it when clearing my mothers house several years ago when finalising her estate.

http://tinypic.com/r/2eed636/6
http://tinypic.com/r/28km0sp/6

Trevor

[agphile]

An engraved Dognose pattern teaspoon or sweetmeat spoon from around 1700 -1715. Assuming it is English, it is quite typical to find just a maker’s mark on these spoons. I have a feeling I have seen this particular mark before but I am not aware that the maker has been identified. Quite likely to have been a Huguenot. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable may come up with a name.

[trevorg]

Hello agphile,
thank you for this information, my research has lead me to understand that the makers mark (which I read as being DS crowned) is detailed in Jackson`s, Ian Pickford Edition, The Antique Collectors Club, 1989, page 515, unfortunately I do not have this edition (complete version not the paperback). If anyone can help and supply these details it would be appreciated.
Trevor

[agphile]

Yes, Pickford does show DS crowned as an unattributed mark of c. 1660/1670 noted on a box and a trefid spoon. The mark is in a shaped cartouche and has a pellet centrally placed beneath the initials. The entry is carried forward from the earlier 1921 Jackson. Trefids from the 1660s are relatively rare so I would be inclined to take the date range later into the 17th or indeed early 18th century, and it would then make sense to think that the same DS progressed from trefids to dognose spoons.

I’m not certain whether yours is the same mark as the detail is no longer clear enough to judge the shape of the cartouche or see whether there is a pellet. However the probability is that this is the same unidentified maker.

It may seem odd to see DS used as a mark in the Britannia period as this cannot be the first two letters of a surname. However, in his book “The First Huguenot Silversmiths of London”, David McKinley explains how some ambiguity in the legislation allowed silversmiths to treat small items as not coming under the new rules, thus avoiding the assay and continuing to use their sterling standard maker’s mark (probably also still using sterling standard silver).

[trevorg]

Thank you for your help and taking time out to reply. Once again the depth of knowledge of contributors to this site is staggering.
Trevor

[trevorg]

Hello,

Just to close out this thread I have recently aquired a trefid sweetmeat fork by the same maker as the spoon referred to in this post. The fork is similarly engraved as the spoon although the gilding may be later. Also close inspection of the mark on the spoon indicates a pellet at the bottom of the cartouche not disimilar to the fork.The fork has been attributed as Pickford to 1660/1670, but as suggested by agphile this demonstrates that the maker did progress to dognose spoons towards the latter end of the 17th century.

Thanks to everyone for their contribution.

trevorg

[agphile]

Thanks for the update — pleasing to have the two examples and to be able to confirm that it is indeed the DS crowned mark with a pellet below.
I now realise why I thought I had seen the mark before. I actually have it on a pair of trefid sweetmeat forks that I picked up a few years ago. Sorry the penny didn’t drop sooner. By their style I would date my forks and yours to c.1695.



I must say I still suspect that the items from which the marks in Jackson were taken may actually have been later than 1660/70. I would be very hesitant about ascribing a trefid to the 1660s without a date letter or firm knowledge of the maker’s working period. However, a working life of 30 to 40 years or more is certainly feasible even when general life expectancy was shorter than now.Anyhow, whether or not the dates in Jackson are correct, it is the same mark.

[trevorg]

Whether they are 1660, 1695 or another date will remain a matter of speculation and future research but it is an aside compared to the pleasure of having them in the collection. Thank you for sharing your forks on the forum. I am now extremely envious!!

[agphile]

While looking for something else I have come across a possible attribution for the DS crowned mark: Daniel Shelmerdine. An engraved trefid spoon of c.1690 with this mark is recoreded in "English Irish and Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute" with this suggested attribution based on research by Gerald Taylor. Shelmerdine was free of the Cutlers in 1681 and entered Brtannia standard marks in 1697.

[trevorg]

I have also been trying to attribute a name (and date) to this mark. There is a spoon in the Ashmolian Museum Silver Collection of similar design and mark (DS with pellet between and crown above) and Daniel Shelmerdine is attributed as the possible maker c.1695.

http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/objects/ma ... 20Number(s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)&cpa=3&rpos=64

The date of c.1690 is looking to be favorite.