Hi there,
I picked up this nice little pair of Celtic Point Teaspoons. Can someone have a look at the hallmarks for me. Firstly, are they really Scottish? The Castle hallmark is missing the top left hand corner on both spoons, which seems a little weird to me. And I can’t seem to find an Edinburgh Maker’s Mark that matches the WA hallmark.
Wasn’t sure if maybe they are Colonial?
Any help would be great, cheers,
Ben
These certainly appear to be Edinburgh and probably date from about 1790 to 1820 when it is not unusual for some of the normally expected assay marks to be missing. I have certainly seen Edinburgh silver with only the maker’s mark, town mark and duty mark like this. Unfortunately I cannot identify WA; possibilities are William Auld or William Allen, but even the Edinburgh Goldsmiths Incorporation does not show this mark.
In the late 1790s-1802, it is common for the set of Edinburgh assayed marks to be incomplete on small flatware items. A careful comparision of Edinburgh castle marks may let you date the spoons reasonably precisely.
I agree with the prior poster as per maker options but think that Allen is less likely. The mark is almost certainly that of William Auld. I have encountered identically marked spoons (including the same maker’s mark).
Thanks guys! 