Silver Filigree Sheath

[laura9797]

I have never seen these types of marks. I thought perhaps they were Russian or Polish but I am at a loss. Thanks for any help!

[dognose]

Hi Laura,

These are a fascinating set of marks that I never seen before, but like pieces of a jig-saw puzzle, only when you start putting them together they make sense.

I believe the item is Scottish, and made at Perth.

The double-headed eagle was used as a town-mark by numerous silversmiths of Perth.

The 'Pth' mark, at least a very similar one, I have only noted being used by only one silversmith, that was Alexander Forbes Dalgleish of Perth who was working from around 1890 to 1940. He was registered with the Glasgow Assay Office.

That just leaves 'Dow', and the above dates fit in very nicely with William Dow, who was working at Perth from c.1889 until 1926.

See: http://925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... dow#p79774

William Dow does not appear to be registered with any of the assay offices and this is the first time I have seen, from memory, a mark that is very likely attributable to him.

Trev.

[AG2012]

THE EDINBURGH GAZETTE, NOVEMBER 23, 1923

[dognose]

Hi AG2012,

Thank you for the further information. I've updated the William Dow topic:

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31210&p=79774#p79774

Trev.

[oel]

What happened to Laura's images?

[user701]

Was about to ask the same Oel, certainly not clicking to view them.

[AG2012]

Photobucket says ``Sorry, this person moved or deleted this image``. You may have notice this with older posts, too. Have checked my posts with embedded images (tiny pic). They are still there after a couple of years, but I do not manipulate anything in tiny pic.

[dognose]

Luckily I took the precaution of capturing the images to preserve them for all time:





Trev.

[laura9797]

Thanks so much for the information! I have no idea what has happened to my photographs? They are still on my photobucket? I really love having this mystery solved! I am happy to repost the images or snail mail them to someone for references.
Thanks again!

[dognose]

Hi Laura,

It would appear that your images have disappeared off all of your previous posts. If you could replace those images it would be appreciated.

Trev.

[laura9797]

Am reposting the photographs! I don't know why they were removed as I have not taken them off of my photobucket account. I do have a question regarding the silver content on this sheath, would it be considered sterling or plate? Thanks so much!

[dognose]

Hi Laura,

I would suspect silver, but with a lack of official hallmarks it is impossible to tell without testing.

Trev.

[laura9797]

I will get a silver testing kit and update the posting after I test it! Very interesting that the body of the sheath is decorated in four sections over the fine filigree work with a crown, Scottish thistle, Maltese cross and profile bust of knight and shield. Not sure if this sheath was for a certain 'order' like masonic but definitely the symbolism equates to something.

[AG2012]

Those small items are tricky to test. If rubbed against black testing scratch stone the silver plate coating may leave enough silver deposit to show false positive result. On the other hand, one cannot remove the superficial layer on e.g. filigree or in visible places.
The only way to make sure it`s silver is to remove the superficial layer where it cannot be seen, either with a jeweler`s file or with sharp knife, deep enough,but not too deep,clean the dust, and then apply small drop of testing acid and see what happens. (I use watchmaker`s loupe when doing this, but my eyes are not so good any more). The surface can be easily polished afterwards. No damage done and the test is 100% reliable.
Regards