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A handsome and interesting strainer

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Author	Topic: A handsome and interesting strainer
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 02-10-2012 11:08 AM was recently auctioned. It was offered as c 1750, made by William Ball (1729-1810) of Philadelphia. While the form is right for the date, it is actually marked by William Ball (1763-1815) of Baltimore. Which brings up the conundrum -- how did Baltimore Bill manage to make such nice silver before he was born? A close look at the mark may help explain things. It is struck three times, twice with WB in script and once with W•BALL in a shaped cartouche, apparently poorly struck, with considerable chatter Closer examination of the rotated image, however, shows it is struck over another mark The identity of the earlier mark is open to debate, but I would hazard that it is the GD of George Dowig (1724-1807), who was working in Philadelphia during the time in question, but was just down Market Street from William Ball's shop in Baltimore during the 1780's and 90s. This is a guess, as said, and I be interested in other thoughts. IP: Logged
OWK Posts: 69 Registered: Apr 2005	posted 02-10-2012 06:27 PM Beautiful piece. I believe the mark is yet another of William Ball's. I can make out the very bottom of a W.B under the overstruck mark, and if you look at the other side, you can see that the undermark was a conformal (stepped in) punch. The Baltimore Museum of Art "Maryland Silver" Catalog of 1975 shows an all caps conformal W.BALL mark that is indistinguishable from the exposed areas of your undermark. The piece is still very interesting (in that it includes three different W.Ball marks) and somewhat of a mystery. Why would Ball have overstruck his own mark? IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 02-10-2012 06:52 PM To be honest a double strike, rotated 180 degrees, was my first impression (ha!), but even if that is true, I still think it was done to cover another maker's mark. I don't think Ball made the piece, which dates in form a good 30 years before his earliest work. IP: Logged
OWK Posts: 69 Registered: Apr 2005	posted 02-10-2012 07:00 PM If it IS a W.Ball mark... it is not the same undermark as overmark. The BMA Catalog shows two similar W.BALL all caps conformal marks. One is neatly crafted with well-formed letters. The other (the overmark) is a bit cruder. I'm pretty certain that the undermark is W.BALL If i get a few minutes later, I'll try to photograph the two catalog marks for comparison. As to whether the mark is contemporaneous, That's tough to say. I'd agree with your assessment that the strainer form looks earlier, but I've seen pieces that were made to be reminiscent or even replacements. That still wouldn't explain why he overstruck his own mark. Riddles and Mysteries.. IP: Logged
OWK Posts: 69 Registered: Apr 2005	posted 02-10-2012 07:10 PM Actually, closer inspection of your photos offers a third possibility. It is possible that Ball overstruck two marks in the area in question. If you look closely where you put the red arrow, you will see that your arrow is actually atop what may be yet another mark. I'll replay a scenario for you. Ball either repairs, engraves, or otherwise improves an earlier strainer. In so doing, he overstrikes the earlier smith's mark. "Darn".. Says Ball "the overstrike isn't very legible"... So he gets out his second conformal punch which is a bit smaller... And overstrikes again. "darn".. "that's even worse" he says.. So he X's out the muddled mess of three marks, and marks the outboard edges with his smaller script "WB" mark... That's my story.. and I'm stickin to it.. (lol) IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 02-10-2012 07:14 PM Here are the two marks Your scenario is what I had in mind, too. IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 02-10-2012 07:23 PM Thinking about your repair idea, here is a detail of the handle back, which hints at just that I would really love to have this piece in hand for a close inspection (though the owner might have trouble getting it back) IP: Logged
swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 Registered: May 2003	posted 02-10-2012 08:37 PM The center "mark" is so deeply punched that is is obvious that there must have been several strikes - I am only surprised that the metal (which is cast) didn't break at that place! I would think that the only chance of resolving whose/how many marks there are would be to clean out the tarnish, and even then it may not be possible. I agree (and have so felt since first seeing this) that it is out of period with the Baltimore Ball (not the Philadelphia one as claimed by the seller), having been made much earlier (in the Philadelphia Balls time). IP: Logged

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