Thanks
Help needed for this silver box
silver box
Hi Marcolino, your hallmark is the townmark of Worms in Germany - probably 18th or 19th. If you find a makers mark it would be more easy to tell some more details...
regards Wolfgang
regards Wolfgang
Although I haven't yet been able to attribute this mark, I can tell you that it is in fact a Hanau pseudo-mark; it usually appears with an eagle, a faux Augsburg mark, a human profile, or some combination of the three. The box is typical of the late 19th/early 20th century Hanau work.
Hanau pieces turn up frequently in these threads, and it looks like posters are getting much more savvy about recognizing them. Items with elaborate architectural, bucolic or romantic scenes embossed onto sheet silver (as here) should immediately be suspect. (If identical scenes are repeated on the same piece, it's a dead giveaway to mechanical embossing, not true répoussé or chasing). Likewise, elaborately pierced edges with swags and scrolls framing portrait medallions are typical of Hanau work. It takes many, many hours (or years!) studying true Mannerist and Rococo designs, but once having done so, the anachronistic and overly sentimentalized nature of most Hanau reproductions will be immediately recognizable.
Which is not to knock Hanau work; I, for one, think they are coming into their own as a collectible genre of silver, and rightly so. The best Hanau pieces are true works of art: spectacular reproductions of otherwise totally unaffordable masterpieces. And even the less grand items remain what they were then: attractive, appealing, affordable, and generally well-made decorative pieces.
Hanau pieces turn up frequently in these threads, and it looks like posters are getting much more savvy about recognizing them. Items with elaborate architectural, bucolic or romantic scenes embossed onto sheet silver (as here) should immediately be suspect. (If identical scenes are repeated on the same piece, it's a dead giveaway to mechanical embossing, not true répoussé or chasing). Likewise, elaborately pierced edges with swags and scrolls framing portrait medallions are typical of Hanau work. It takes many, many hours (or years!) studying true Mannerist and Rococo designs, but once having done so, the anachronistic and overly sentimentalized nature of most Hanau reproductions will be immediately recognizable.
Which is not to knock Hanau work; I, for one, think they are coming into their own as a collectible genre of silver, and rightly so. The best Hanau pieces are true works of art: spectacular reproductions of otherwise totally unaffordable masterpieces. And even the less grand items remain what they were then: attractive, appealing, affordable, and generally well-made decorative pieces.
It is absolutely meant to imitate the Worms mark as illustrated in Scheffler (that's the whole point of pseudo-marks), but I am 100% certain. My attribution is based on the style of the piece more than anything, but as say I have recorded this exact mark with other pseudo marks. Here are two examples:
You'll note that this is the exact same punch (in a clearer state) with totally unrelated ersatz Augsburg and eagle marks, thus indicative of pseudo-marks. I suppose there is a chance that there was a maker in Worms who was using pseudo-marks, but I doubt it; this piece screams "Hanau".
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You'll note that this is the exact same punch (in a clearer state) with totally unrelated ersatz Augsburg and eagle marks, thus indicative of pseudo-marks. I suppose there is a chance that there was a maker in Worms who was using pseudo-marks, but I doubt it; this piece screams "Hanau".
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