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Regarding Englands hallmarking.

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Author	Topic: Regarding Englands hallmarking.
Crocodile Mark Posts: 55 Registered: Feb 2002	posted 03-06-2002 04:16 PM I've been searching through a lot of hallmarks in the last month, and a typical problem seems to be arising. On smaller cutlery(spoons,forks), I find that English hallmarks leave out a mark either to save room or time..... and either the dating gets difficult or the hallmark location gets difficult to interpret. Ex: All things being considered for this example, the passant(lion) can be found in at least 4 different locations. The WB is for William Bateman(London) manufacturer but still that doesn't indicate that it wasn't hallmarked out of London. Looking at the shapes that contain the marks still are very hard to determine. It might boil down to a shield with rounded bottom of a slight point. The duty marks are a bit of a clue but many times only to the point of a facing direction. And the date letter... easy to read but only pertinent if you know the town for sure. It could be 1799 Birmingham,1817 London, or 1818 Exeter. It surely stretching my optic nerve. I've managed to use double loops, flashlights and I'm sure someday it'll be an electron microscope. Need some clues.......... IP: Logged
Brent Posts: 1507 Registered: May 99	posted 03-07-2002 10:26 AM Hi, I had the exact same question, and even did a post on it some time ago. Anyway, I asked someone with a lot of experience in this area, and she said that if the town mark is missing from an otherwise fully marked piece, you can reasonably assume that it is London. Apparently the London makers could get away with leaving the leopard's head off of small items like spoons. You are right, though, the shapes of the mark surrounds from the late 17th-early 18th century period rarely match what you see in the hallmark books. It is very frustrating, as the books make it seem that each date letter and lion passant mark was constant and un-varying. Experience has shown me that it just isn't true. Can anyone else confirm this? I hope this helps somewhat. Brent IP: Logged
Crocodile Mark Posts: 55 Registered: Feb 2002	posted 03-07-2002 03:50 PM Thanks Brent, Yes it does..... I had sorta come to the same conclusion but for a different reason. I was assuming that London was the choise because WB was a London Maker. Easy to say this time but quite often a fair amount of the makers are not in the books. Then it become somewhat a punt. It also has become apparent to me, as of late, that many times hallmarks were applied in Sheffeild and Trent and were made by London makers. I would like to hear more from someone on this idea that London would be the preferred choice for missing hallmarks. This would make things a bit easier. thanks to Brent. Mark IP: Logged
Linda Snyder Posts: 17 Registered: Feb 2002	posted 03-08-2002 11:24 AM I am by no means an expert but I thought I'd share what I had read in Judith and Martin Miller's "Antiques, Pocket Fact File." On page 120, "Don't be put off by the absence of assay marks on British silver. Pieces made to commission, or in a place remote from an assay office, may only carry the maker's mark." I know this does not explain your question about the date stamp because date stamps are assigned by the assay office, but thought I'd put in my 2 cents. Mark, in response to your comment about distorted shapes, the same book also noted [same page] "Early silver marks are far from uniform because the punches were hand made. Often there is considerable variation, even for the same year." IP: Logged
Louise Posts: 22 Registered: May 2001	posted 03-08-2002 06:10 PM Hi, You are all right on it with the information about London marks. I get many pieces without them. The other town to watch out for is Sheffield. They have a tendency to add the date letter on top of the mark for Sheffield, a crown. I hope this helps. IP: Logged

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