Henry Chawner salts?

[MLF]

A lovely pair of salt cellars, seemingly with their original liners:


Both cellars are decorated with stenciling and punctures, although on both the punctures extend for only part of one side, as if leaving a gap for a monogram. On the other side, the decoration extends all - or almost all - of the way. I suppose the cellars were made from a sheet of silver that already had the decoration punched into it, because where the ends join up, the decoration on both cellars is a little rough, and both have one enlarged puncture there.

One cellar appears to have been repaired at some point - the stenciling on one leg is different and somewhat crude compared to that of the other legs.


Who made these cellars, and why are there only two marks on the one piece?


I read these as being made in London in 1790 (possibly 1810) and probably by a certain 'HC'. From a distance, the maker's mark looks more like 'EC' but I think the silver ruptured when it was stamped and that is why the first letter is not complete. I'm fairly certain it's an 'H' - in the middle of the mark is a faint vertical line that I believe belongs to the 'H'. It's hard to get a good picture of the mark; this is the best I can do:


Could these cellars have been made by Henry Chawner? They seem... well, a little crude for a silversmith of his standing. And why does one cellar bear only the leopard and the date letter 'P'? (This is not the cellar that had a leg replaced.)

Best wishes

Mikael
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[MLF]

Hello forum,

I wonder if any of you would offer an opinion on these salt cellars - both regarding the maker and the oddity of one cellar bearing only two marks. Could it be that marks were erased after some repair work was carried out that I am not able to spot?

Best wishes

Mikael
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[Granmaa]

From the picture, it looks like the marks have been filed away.

I'm sorry, I can't help with the maker.

Miles
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[admin]

Hi MLF,
Is the area of missing marks next to one of the replaces feet?

Tom
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[MLF]

Hello Miles and Tom,

Thank you so much for your messages. On closer inspection it does look as if some of the marks have been filed away - but very oddly, this is not the cellar that has had a foot replaced, nor do I see any evidence of any past repair jobs having been done on it. It's strange. Even if that was the case, however, would it be normal to file away marks?

Best wishes

Mikael
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[dognose]

Hi Mikael,

Is there any chance that there has been a solder repair that has flowed into the Hallmarks and obscured them, this would account for the file marks as being part of the preparation for soldering.

Regards Trev.
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[admin]

...or the result of trying to level off a sloppy solder flow.
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[JLDoggett]

Trev may have a point, if you look to the left side of the two-mark picture, there is a shadow that looks like a shallow curve, this could be the remains of the maker's mark. there is room between it and the city mark to have fitted the quality mark. However why would the soveriegn's head have been removed? It is possible that they were damaged (there is the missing metal (the enlarged punch holes). Those enlarged holes make me wonder if something was once soldered there and removed, or broke off. On the back shown, the solder seam appears to bisect the last section of punch-work (with a solder spill below). The rim and base moulding would have been applied after the sheet was formed into the proper sized oval for the liner. It is possible the smith worked the sheet before the liners arrived and discovered the liners were slightly larger than ordered... There are a lot of possible explainations and questions these raise.
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[MLF]

Hello Trev and Tom,

I suppose it's possible. I can't tell if the cellar has been repaired at some point but it's perfectly possible - when I look at the other cellar with its replaced foot, the silver is not any less smooth in that area than in other areas - my eye is woefully untrained! I would expect the narrow 'ledge' which the inserts rest on, and which is where the hallmarked are, to have a lot of wear over time.

Thanks for your input!

Mikael
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