posted 06-14-2003 04:32 AM            

Looks like a snuff box & is sterling. l-l/2"tall & wide with detailed repousee overall.

An oval shape w/indentations,w/dainty but strong long hinge for top, which shows milkmaid w/somewhat bony cow. Men in 18th cent. costume are drinking on shaped sides w/intricate tree & building detail; voluptuous woman reclines & Nubian servant stands by on one shaped side; etc.

The lid edge has horizontal incised lines & is marked "F"; the lion faces left; "Q".
The bottom is plain,w/marks all in box,"JK",two dots there, & over a plain helmet profile.
On bottom also, all in a shield shape; large antique key above a rampant griffon,over a "1".

Here we go - now on the inside upper edge: in line, lion passant face left (lozenge);"Q"(shield); "F"(oval); the famous leopard face -no crown(shield) Is this beginning to sound like a college text exam? This charming little piece has ten marks. And I don't know what any of them signifies.

Would you experts know?

Today, the 21st, I just discovered that this may be a thimble box (for a nice sterling thimble of course); from Daniel Low Silver catalog of 1901. A sample is also marked "JK"
so there was a company/designer then. Library books have not revealed this mark, or name, so I still don't know the maker.

posted 06-14-2003 04:35 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by labarbedor:
You probably have a piece of Chester silver, but without photos you don't make it easy. Could you borrow a camera?

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posted 06-17-2003 03:59 AM            

Victorian era Dutch silversmiths were notorious for using all sorts of extraneous and pseudo marks to make a piece seem older than its true age. I have a Dutch apostle spoon with four or five virtually meaningless marks, and British import marks from somewhere in the 1890s (sorry, can't seem to locate the piece, for photos or exact date. Seems to me that I read somewhere that these pseudo-marks have been documented, but who knows where???

Cheryl