Now that would be an interesting collectible. I wonder if the skull patches were assayed and hallmarked?!
Virtually all the silver surgical items made were supplied direct to hospitals and practitioners and had no legal requirement for hallmarking, which would of course added to the cost of the items. However you can find some that are fully hallmarked, offered by specialist maker/retailers such as George Carsberg amongst numerous others.
Silver, prior to the invention of specific antibiotics, was widely used for medical and dental purposes because of its ability to resist germs. Doctors kits come up for sale every now and then usually with a black top clasp bag.
My x-wifeâs father, an emigre from Kiev, who was shot in the head during the Battle of Montecassino, has a silver plate put there by army surgeons . He swore he got local radio stations on it. I think he was on our side. The British, then operated out of Iran where they staged Europeans fleeing Russia invasion into Eastern Europe. How any of them survived the trek into and out of Russia and then to Iran remains a story of extraordinary endurance which makes difficulties the modern generation face seem very proportional.
CRWW
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Back on the subject of the ladle, it realised ÂŁ320 before commission under the hammer. A fairly high price for an unattributed piece of this type, an absolute steal if it can be proven to be a Galway manufactured ladle, you werenât the winning bidder were you Christopher?
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No, I thought it went to the point where some of the speculative comments in this forum would have needed to be accurate for the amount paid plus the buyerâs premium to be justified.
If the proud owner who outbid us all has been reading these comments perhaps he would let us know what is eventually determined as to origin.
CRWW
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To be honest, thatâs why I asked. It would be quite interesting to see what further research would unveil, I wonder if the high bidder saw something that he could pursue further.
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