Dutch? Belguim? French?

[joho]

Hi - can anyoneone help identify the marks on this large silver fish slice. It is nearly 13 inches long and from its style I guess it dates from 1st half 19th century. Would be grateful for any information. Many thanks John

[joho]

Hi - I have added another (hopefully clearer) photo of what is presumably the makers mark in the lozenge shape stamp. The mark is not that clear, but my best reading of it is J at the top of the lozenge, then AS then F at the bottom (though this may be a P). There could be a dot after the J, but this is more likely to be a blemish in the mark. The other mark is in a shaped shield and is either 10 or IO (10 most likely). Regards John

[dognose]

Hi John,

I'm sure that you are correct with your interpretation of the letters, but just to leave the door open very slightly on the possibility that the mark may be orientated upside down and reads 'SV' with symbols above and below. (Could that possibly be, with a stretch of the imagination, a candle holder at the top?).



Regards, Trev.

[joho]

Thanks Trev - Definitely worth another look which I have done. SV certainly a possibility, but I struggle with the top and bottom devices/letters. Regards John

[blakstone]

Brazilian! (That's one well-traveled fish slice!)

“JASF” is correct, for José Antônio de Sousa Ferreira, working 1847-1854 in Rio de Janeiro. “10” indicates the purity of 10 dinheiros, or .833.

Hope this helps!

Ref: José Gisella Valladares, As Artes Plásticas do Brasil: Ourivesaria (Rio de Janeiro: Ediouro,1952), p. 258.

[joho]

Wow - what a surprise! I would never have discovered that on my own. I wonder how it got to the UK? Many thanks Blackstone. John