Silver handle maker JH pre 1784

[robert12]

Help needed please on the maker JH.
This knife has a replacement blade (1840's ?) by Harvey, Denton & Co 64 Strand and is 10.5 inches long ?
The handle has Lion one side and maker mark JH along with a dog crest on the other.
I take it that the handle is pre 1784 as no duty mark.
Perhaps a lost register maker from that period.
A nice item and would be good to track down a maker.




Thanks in advance
Robert

[Sasropakis]

Could that be Joseph Hicks from Exeter? He was active 1780-1835 so if it's him the date would be around 1780-84. I'm not that familiar with provincial silver but I think the town mark was frequently omitted in small items like in London and the lion passant can look quite similar to London.

[silvermakersmarks]

I suspect not Joseph Hicks. His JH punch is a fairly crude affair probably made locally; this seems to be a very neat job.

I also think that it may not be as early as first suggested. The use of the block letter J in makers' marks in the 18th century was very rare - it was normally represented by a script I or J. This may well therefore be a 19th century mark, possibly even contemporaneous with the blades. The form of the "hook" on the J is unusual as they normally looped round more. This should, in theory, make identification easy but I cannot find any matching mark - and, although I can't explain the lack of a date letter, the missing town mark is not unusual up to around 1820.

Phil

[dognose]

Just shooting in the dark, but James Harvey (Senior and Junior) were partners in Grayhurst, Harvey, Denton & Co. Might this be an overstamp of a registered mark?

Trev.

[robert12]

Thanks for the info so far.
I think that the knife detail seems more London so did not really consider Exeter made.
Would the handle have had a duty mark even if only made as a later replacement copy ?

Robert

[buckler]

In theory a replacement handle should have a duty mark if marked between 1785 and 1890.