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Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone can identify this makers mark on this silver teaspoon. It looks to me like a P on top of an A which could be Peter and Ann Bateman but is very worn and is missing the B. This would also fit in with the date which is London 1795. The spoon also had a PA engraved on the front which I had removed to have my daughters initials engraved on it (was that a huge mistake??? I am a novice at this!!)

Hope picture is clear enough

Would love to hear anyones thoughts on this.

Cheers
Jodie

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Hello Jodie,

The mark is very worn but compares quite well to the one shown for Peter & Ann Bateman on the forum's list of London makers in the British Hallmarks section. Spoons are certainly the type of goods they produced (as did several hundred others of course!) and the date letter is in their active period.
As to erasing the initials it would be significant only if, for instance, there was a clear link to the spoon having been personal to the Batemans or some other important personage. Peter & Ann were brother & sister; it is unlikely they had their joint initials put on a spoon for their own use. Otherwise erasure is, if done well, a matter of personal choice. My preference is to retain the inscriptions intact on the grounds that they add to the item's history.

Mike
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Mike made a typo in his last post (I'm glad I'm not the only one). Peter and Ann were brother and sister in law. Ann took over her husband Jonathan's interest in the firm following his death in 1791.

Trev.
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Thank you so much. This has started a real passion for collecting and I hope to find some more in the future.

I now do regret erasing the engraving and I agree it adds to the history, would love to know who the original owners were and how this little spoon came to end up in a charity shop in Australia 215 years later. I doubt it had any relevance to the Bateman family and I guess I will never know. As I purchased it for my baby daughter, I just hope in another 215 years it is still in my family!
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