Hi
I recently bought some georgian berry spoons at an auction. Now I have noticed that one of them lack hallmarks for purity, town and year. It only has two marks which both look like a maker mark.
It is a bit disappointing since the other spoons are properly hallmarked.
Do you know what material this spoon is made of or how old it might be? Any information would be appreciated!
I was thinking some more about this.
Maybe this spoon is not English at all although the auction house said so. Could it have been made in South Africa?
What do you think?
It is either not silver or not English. If English it should, as you suggest, have a proper hallmark, although occasionally we come across what are called “duty dodgers” where only a maker’s mark is used. But in these cases we tend to see the mark repeated 3 or 4 times so that at first glance it could be mistaken for a hallmark.
If not English then, where could it be from? I think that the most likely answer is that it is a provincial mark from, for example, Ireland, Scotland or the Channel Islands. The style of the spoon, Hanoverian, was popular throughout most of the 18th century, but tended to be replaced by the Old English pattern towards the end of the century. This date supports a provincial rather than colonial origin but I can’t find an FW mark in any of my (admittedly not very comprehensive) references.
It is not possible to confirm, from a photograph, the material of the spoon so your only recourse, if you consider it worthwhile, is to have it properly tested. Perhaps the auction house could help you as they have asserted, without apparent evidence, that it is silver.
Phil
Hi Phil
Many thanks for this information!
I am sure the auction house will test it for me so I will go there when I travel to that area next time. In any case the spoon is not magnetic and its sound is right so there is still hope it might be silver.
I thought I had found the answer just a while ago, https://capesilvermarks.co.za/silversmiths-index/cape-marks-1800-1880/frederick-waldek/waldek-frederick-2/ but that would mean the 19th century not the 18th and my spoon does not have those imitations of English hallmarks anyway so I think that you are right.
