Help with French? Hallmarks

[atasker]

Hello,

Can anyone identify this mark? The 950 says French to me but I'm not sure.
Thanks,

[dognose]

Hi,

It is indeed a French export mark. Hopefully another member can identify the maker.

Trev.

[oel]

Yes, a so called special use hallmark. The obus mark, beginning in 1884, was originally used for only gold and silver items that were legally required to be exported. This special mark was designed to be inclusive of the maker's initials, a prescribed symbol, and the indication of precious metal fineness. The fineness was either expressed in thousands (i.e. silver 950M) or in karats (i.e.gold 14K). This mark was applied to items that either met French standards or were under the minimum fineness and therefore could not be sold in France.

Peter.

Source; World Hallmarks Volume I Europe Hallmark Research Institute 2nd edition.

[atasker]

What does the axe/hatchet represent?

[oel]

It is a prescribed symbol, it will help to identify the maker with this particular initials R(?)M.
Let us wait for our French contributors to chime in.

Peter.

Peter

[JayT]

Hello
As @oel has said, the mark indicates French manufacture after 1884.

Finding the maker will be a challenge as Paris makers registered after 1878 are listed in a Ministry of Culture database which is no longer supported online. The database is available only at France’s national library, much to the regret of the silver-loving community.

To answer your specific question:
When a silversmith registers his mark, he choses a symbol (called un différend) that has meaning for him. The symbol can be a mnemonic device for his name, a tool of his trade, etc., and is used to distinguish his mark from other makers with the same initials.

What the axe (une hâche) meant to your maker is unknown, but in looking at Arminjon’s dictionary of Paris marks from 1838-1875, 16 makers used this symbol, so it isn’t unusual.

Good luck in your research.

Regards.

[bijoux.expert]

After a number of complaints to the French Ministry of Culture, by myself and presumably other persons, their website of hallmarks was put back online last year.
It's not very intuitive, and the photos are generally poor, but it's better than nothing. And they will accept contributions too, sometimes.

https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/search/mosa ... r%29%22%5D

You'll want to tick the box RECHERCHE AVANCEE on the top right, this opens the box REFERENCE where you can choose your search criteria, which could be name or initials or many other possibilities.

[bijoux.expert]

There is no hallmark with the initials RM and an axe (hache) on the Ministry of Culture database, but this is not unusual as it's not very complete.

I've had a look in the Dictionaire des Joailliers, bijoutiers et Ofevrès en France de 1850 à nos jours. There is one maker's mark with initials RM and an axe, Robert Murat, 252 rue Saint Martin, Paris. Mark in use from 1923 to 1945. Although the mark is not illustrated, I'm pretty sure this is the guy, as the book mentions one lozenge mark and 4 pentagons, which is very unusual and it also says Murat specialised in articles for smokers and boxes.