I have got these through my late grandad. And wondering if anyone can tell me anything about these and if worth keeping or selling on to someone who would appreciate it more?
I believe that the bottle is possibly a Scent Bottle and the makers mark looks to be A.W.P of Birmingham !!! ![]()
Closer and clearer photos will help us determine a lot more information
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Welcome to the Forum ![]()
You are exhibiting a pair of fish servers, a vanity box and a scent bottle. The sterling box is made in Birmingham and assayed in 1916 by Levi & Salaman. The fish servers are silver plate blade with a silver band or ferrule. I think the blade is marked for Mappin and Webb but your photos are too blurry to really tell. The scent bottle has already been identified.
Silver is very difficult to photograph and tiny, often rather grubby marks, are even harder. You need a steady hand and a high pixel count camera.
I cannot for instance read the three letter mark on the ferrule of the fish servers.
As to whether they are worth keeping. This depends on what for. To preserve the memory of your departed relative? Cannot help you there. Because you are likely to serve fish? Again, you might but most just use a spatula and it comes directly out of the pan. These servers were designed for formal service from a polished mahogany sideboard by a servant. I cannot really tell if you have any of those accoutrements.
And the scent bottle? This was made when household distilled their own rosewater or lavender oils.Today we tend to buy it in commercial bottles. Again difficult to tell what your own domestic arrangements are or the need for a container. One thing is generally true and that is we take more baths or showers today so smell better obviating much of the need for home distillation to mask anything offensive.
As for the collectors market. May I refer you to Ebay where all sort and manner of folk are drumming their fish servers, scent bottles and vanity boxes with various degrees of success.
If you start with melt value and then add rarity of item, number of people collecting it and the amount of modern currency they are prepared to part with to get it, the scent bottle and box would probably beat out the fish servers which are largely brass and stuffed with pitch handles anyway so little silver content.
If you are a fan of PG Wodehouse’s Bertram Wooster Esq. in the Jeeves series, he used to see a pair of fish servers as the default wedding gift for his Drones pals when they were ensnared by matrimonial bonds. Perhaps that is the highest and best use.
CRWW






