Can anyone please identify the maker and/or age of the attached marking-I have exhausted my search from my library.
Yes, please post the other marks and a picture of the whole piece. (so we can get some clues from the object itself). Then we can try to help.
Regards
Jonathan
Photo of item now attached,thanks
when you look over the edges of the piece carefully, can you see any light yellow (nickel) showing through?? or do you find darker metal at the edges??
Thanks for the reply.
No base metal visible whatsoever
Well, I’m struggling to find something to tell you that you don’t already know.
I’ve reviewed my books of plate marks and I can’t find a good match.
There was on Old Sheffield maker with a very simillar looking italic ‘js’ mark, called J. Smallwood who worked in Sheffield circa 1820. However, the shield shape is wrong and Old Sheffield is not a great material for skewers as it is too soft.
For that reason, plated meat skewers were usually close plated (silver foil rubbed onto steel which had been dipped in tin). Or later, they were electroplated on nickel.
As the marks are quite rubbed we would expect to see some base metal showing through. The absence of base metal suggests that the piece has been re-plated. Without any base metal showing through, we can’t know how the piece was made.
Marks like the ones on the skewer became illegal on plate in 1892. So, we know the piece is older than this, but thats the only thing we can tell you for sure.
Regards // Jonathan
Many thanks for your help Jonathan