www.925-1000.com

Hello,
First of all, congrats to all who devote their time and effort to creating this wonderful place on the net.
I find it a true treasure trove of knowledge, and it has helped me alot in researching the pieces in my collection. But I have some pieces I really can't put my finger on. So I'll be posting them here.

Can anyone help me identify the maker on this devotional crown?
It measures about 11,5cm in height and has a diameter of about 11cm at the widest, it weighs in at 155gr.
It has the Dutch sword mark and next to it is the maker's mark I want to find out more about.
Doe anyone have any ideas on maker and the age of the piece?

Hi, welcome to the forum,

Dutch Sword mark for small work with a minimum fineness of .833, used 1814-1865. For more information about Dutch hallmarks and the sword mark see: http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32028
Mal-formed lozenge makers’ mark; A above VH above a little sun for; Abraham van Heusden, registered in Amsterdam from 1812-1817.
I believe your crown could have been part of a bigger object and been attached, hence the sword mark, a full set of marks; maker’s mark, standard mark, and assay office and date letter should have been punched spread over the missing part(s). Or perhaps, it was just impracticable to mark the crown with a full set of spread hallmarks, due to the sensitive nature of this crown. Very nice object.


Oel.

Hi Oel!
Thanks for your fast response!
I was looking in a totally wrong direction; I don't have any standard works on Dutch silver (it's about time I invest in some decent books on the subject) and I interpreted the maker's mark as ADM and thought it was made much later,
so without your knowledge and help I would have never found out.
As to the partial marking, i.e. the missing standard mark, date letter and assay office, I have looked at several pictures of other crowns and there is almost always an inner support frame attached to the base and after reexamening my piece, I noticed there are a few old filed off solder joints at the inside of the bottom rim, so I suspect at one time there was such a frame and that could have been the place of the full halmarking.
Perhaps they chose to keep the visible markings to a minimum so they would not compremise the integrity of the overall design?

Many thanks !