Toothpick holder

geniol · Post by **geniol** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:47 pm

I canÂ´t identify the hallmarks of this toothpick holders

blakstone · Post by **blakstone** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:09 am

The mark on the right - "L" crowned & flanked by two pellets - is the mark of an unidentified assayer in Lisbon, Portugal, working ca. 1843-1874. The mark on the left is that of Lisbon maker AntÃ³nio Martins da Silva, registered in 1814. Given that da Silva probably wasn't working more than thirty years or so (the average working span of a 19th century silversmith) that would mean these candlesticks (not toothpick holders!) were probably made in the mid-1840's, which looks right for their style.

Ref: Manuel Goncalves Vidal & Fernando Moitinho de Almeida, Marcas de Contraste e Ourives Portugueses, v. I: 15th C.-1887 (Lisbon: Impresa Nacional, 4th ed., 1997) marks 296 & 2555.