This little plaque of Madonna and Child is very heavy for its size weighing 296grams. It has a mark on the bottom corner of her gown which reads 925 and some other image that I cannot identify. Can anyone help with this please?
The “crescent and crown” mark is a German hallmark, used since 1886 to indicate the purity of silver. Without a number, it would be a minimum of .800 purity. With the “925,” that’s a guarantee that it’s sterling silver, at .925 purity.
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Thank you.
That’s interesting. I am wondering about the Madonna and Child… they are not tarnished at all like the background and look like they might be gold plated. I am also puzzled by the fact that there is no obvious maker’s mark. But then I haven’t cleaned the item and there might be something hidden somewhere that I just haven’t spotted yet…
Yes, the figures appear to be sterling silver gilt, i.e., sterling silver with a thin layer of gold plating, which prevents tarnish.
Since the hallmark is on the figures themselves, and not on the background, I wouldn’t hazard a guess about what the background material is. If the background were also sterling, I’d expect to find a mark on it, as well.