Old Silver Cherub Decorated Chalice-Unknown Origin

[greyandwhitecat]

Hi, i picked up this fantastic ecclesiastical silver chalice decorated with cherubs, it has markings to the rim of the foot but i cannot make out what they indicate, i have extensively looked through the 925 site and my own jacksons handbook but am at a loss, i am thinking European silver or similar, any help would be greatly appreciated,.

[amena]

It seems to see a barely visible P after the letters NA.
I can not find an exact match, but something reminds me of the hallmarks of Naples in eighteenth century .
Maybe it's just my imagination galloping.
If not you are a very lucky man.

In any case it is better to wait for the opinion of some other contributor.
Regards
Amena

[greyandwhitecat]

Thank you for the input very interesting indeed, I was just looking again at the 18th century Italian marks on the 925.com, I have now dirtied the impression and it is definitely either a 'P' or an 'R' :-p *fingers crossed* it will be my first 18th century continental piece! btw the chalice weighs 443 grammes so its a good hefty weight! sadly there appears to be a small solder repair at the stem from a later date.

[greyandwhitecat]

On Further examination the furthermost mark to the right of the 'NAP' appears to be the 'alderman' or console mark,the closest match I can find is for Gennaro De Blasio, if this is the case or similar what does the mark 'A.A.C' indicate? would it be a provinence/township mark?

[amena]

Let me be more clear: as I said I did not find an exact match.
The crowned NAP mark belongs to the end of 700 or the beginning of 800
The mark A.A.C. is the consular stamp in the years 1692-1693.
And I can not give any explanation of the other two marks.
I just wanted to point out a certain "family feeling" among these marks.
I know better the silver from Bologna than the ones from Naples, and I can list a large number of pieces certainly from Bologna, whose marks are not listed on any book.
Let us wait for the opinion of some other person.
Regards
Amena

[greyandwhitecat]

Very sage of you and forgive me as i am having difficulty repressing my possible excitement :-p
an odd set of markings though to be sure,is it possible it was remarked at a later date? or was perhaps manufactured by two smiths?
anyway I can confirm it is silver and not plate as it was tested,just as a side note