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These small sugar tongs have what seem to me a very unusual hallmark. The first symbol looks like the Prince of Wales' feathers. The second is a hieroglyph of a man standing up in a boat. He's holding a long pole and seems to be punting. This is no ordinary punt, though, as the boat has a prow shaped like a bird's head! These symbols are followed by the letters D & S in a gothic script.
The tongs also have the initials 'GMW' stamped on the outer surface.
Any ideas?
Help would be much appreciated.

Steve

I have found your identical set of hallmarks in my Unitt's Book of marks.
it belongs to Hemming Manufacturing Company. 1909-1915 in Montreal Canada.
They were listed in Jeweller's Circular as manufacturers of Sterling silverware and jewellry. Also as manufactueres of boxes and jewel cases.
Hope this helps, I haven't done a search online using that name but perhaps you can find out more and I suspect your item is Sterling.

Did Hemming expand to Montreal from New Jersey?

The only reference to a Hemming Manufacturing company I can find on the internet is an abstract for an article in the Amerikanischer Schweizer-Kalender, vol. 36, 1916. Emil Hemming, from Uster in the Zürich Canton of Switzerland apparently set up the Hemming Manufacturing company in Garfield, New Jersey in 1908.

See: http://csumc.wisc.edu/mki/Library/NewAc ... mmer05.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The book I found the marks in is Unitt's Book of Markd, Antiques and Collectables. This is a Canadian book and my copy was printed in 1981. They are the Canadian equivlent to Kovels. The mark they show for the company is identical to that on the sugar tongs as well they show a second type of mark which id Hemming Montreal written in a circle with hemming on top and then the intials C over an H in the ceneter of the circle. So don't know if the C is the initial for a first name or if the H and the C are for hemming Company. Sorry that's all I could find the book only has a very brief bit about it. here's a pic of the piece from the book.

I believe Deykin and Son (Birmingham UK) who were silversmiths had a similar mark for their plated wares. Looking at the picture of the Canadian mark..the Prince of Wales feathers is not identical to it, neither is the last initial. However, this is purely from my memory banks (which go back a long long way ) so please check it out.
Best wishes, Mike.

The book i got this picture from was first published in 1973 so not sure how accurate the picture was from this early a publication. perhaps i got a little carried away with the man in the boat thing. However the Unitt's have been known to make mistakes. Also the last letter in the hallmarks in the picture doesn't even look like a letter unless it contains only prts left of a cripted S. So now I guess that puts us back to square one, maybe?

Hi Deb,
It strikes me that the mark illustration for Hemming is the one below the Hemming bio, what was the last bio on the page before. I wondering if that is the one that the trademark is illustrated for?
Regards, Tom

The image with the man in the boat appears on the top of the page. The preceding page has a picture at the bottom for Dwight and savage and is stated as so.
Of interest I did some quick research on Deykin and Son (Birmingham UK) and discovered that they called their line of silverplate on nickle Venetian silver which would explain the man in a boat is actually a man in a gondola and this was their trademark. Couldn't find out if they had exsclusive rights to the mark. However the only mark i could find for this company was as follows. Perhaps the Montreal company purchased from them for resale in Canada. This Deykin mark i believe is from the 20's

Hi,
As the letters in the book illustration are also D&S, it seems likely that it is a continuation of the Dwight & Savage listing and they would be the makers of the tongs in question. Can you give some info on them?
Thanks, Tom

I believe you are right. The layout of the book is confusing as the heading Dwight & savage appears at the bottom of the page i did not think the picture at the top of the next page belonged to it but now I see it pobablt does. here's some picks of James Adams Dwight hallmarks and the hallmarks in the previous post would have been after he partnered with George Savage. But this sill puts the piece in Montreal and from a much earlier date.

So now i can say with more probability that they are sterling?

Deb,
I think you have the configuration of the book reversed, it illustrates the marks below the text, not above. It follows that the marks on the tongs were attributed by Unitt to Dwight & Savage. However, as Dwight & Savage were working circa 1819, Unitt has misattributed them and it is far more likely that they are marks from a Sheffield or Birmingham electroplating firm of 60 or so years later.
...Apologies if this sounds confusing, I'm not nearly as articulate as this riddle demands.
Best, Tom

Ok here goes. The layout of the book is consistently ( after careful consideration) the name of the firm followed by the hallmarks. As in the previous pages, The bottom of page 58 lists caron bros. with the hallmarks following on the top of Page 59.The bottom of pg 59 lists Dwight & savage with a note to see above in reference to his affiliation with James Adam Dwight and then following on the top of page 60 is the hallmark with the man in the boat. All these pages are in the canadian hallmark section and furthur in the Montreal silversmiths section. So now i am really confused.

...so, given the book's layout, the illustrated mark of "the man in the boat" isn't for Hemming (who's text is below), but for D&S (who's text is before).
This being the case, I believe Unitt has misattributed the mark. The fiddle form of the tongs is plausible for circa 1820 Canada, but the style of the mark is not. The complex pseudos and the lettering style are far more in keeping with later British electroplate trademarks.
That said, I must add that I am no authority on Canadian coin silver marks and may well be incorrect in my assumptions. So here's hoping that someone with better knowledge of either Canadian silver marks and/or British electroplate trademarks will come along and straighten this all out.

Regards, Tom

I'm confused, too! I'm not sure where the Sheffield or Birmingham electroplating firm comes in. Is this another "D&S" or are we back to Deykin & Sons?

I'd say the marks photographed in Unitt are the same symbols as those on our sugar tongs, but in a slightly differing style. The "D&S", for example, is not quite the same gothic script, but very close.

Just to muddy the waters further, I've received a couple of emails from a gentleman whose friend owns a spoon with matching marks. He says the first two symbols are identical - i.e. the Prince of Wales feathers and the man in the boat - but they're followed by the letters "D&H"!

Yes, my "D&S" did make him think again, but he tells me he's sure his spoon is "D&H".

Thanks for all your help,

Steve

back to Deykin & Sons, here's a hotplate they sold on the cheap for advertising purposes. Notice their "man in gondola" trademark at center.

And to furthur cloud the issue. Deykin was also in with harrison as D&H Birmingham circa 1920's here's that hallmark but still no man in the gondola

Trademarks are for silverplate, they are not used amidst British sterling hallmarks. The British assay offices, mercifully!, did not let this area become cloudy.

Ok, here's the Deykin & Harrison - with man in the boat. ->
http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3128" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you very much. Another mystery solved.