Hello to everyone! This is my first time here, and I hope someone can help me with a mark that is too small to photograph. I have two small coin or sterling mustard ladles, very old, and the mark has three symbols - a star, a lion with the right paw up and a long tail up over his back, and a letter "D".
Thanks for your time.
Annette
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Help needed with mark
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2209patrick
- co-admin
- Posts: 3550
- Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:53 pm
- Location: Land of Lincoln, USA
That sounds like a set of marks on coin silver. If your ladles were sterling they would be stamped .925 or sterling. The star and lion are often called pseudo marks and were used by some New York State silversmiths.
Some say they can attribute certain sets of pseudo marks to a particular silversmith. Other's believe that many different silversmiths used the same pseudo marks, so you can't pin the marks down to one maker. My own view is you can count on one hand how many pseudo marks can be directly linked to just one silversmith.
That said, Dorothy Rainwater's "Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturer's" attributes that set of marks to John Lawson Westervelt, Newburgh, New York (mid 1800's). I'm not sure this is correct, just offering you a lead to research.
Regards,
Pat.
.
Some say they can attribute certain sets of pseudo marks to a particular silversmith. Other's believe that many different silversmiths used the same pseudo marks, so you can't pin the marks down to one maker. My own view is you can count on one hand how many pseudo marks can be directly linked to just one silversmith.
That said, Dorothy Rainwater's "Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturer's" attributes that set of marks to John Lawson Westervelt, Newburgh, New York (mid 1800's). I'm not sure this is correct, just offering you a lead to research.
Regards,
Pat.
.
Pat,
Many thanks! I will see if I can find more info in that direction. Interesting enough, this piece is from a small collection of old coin I bought from an estate all seem to be from NYC or close, and all 1850s. Logic might dictate the family came from the area to here (PA) at that time.
Annette
.
Many thanks! I will see if I can find more info in that direction. Interesting enough, this piece is from a small collection of old coin I bought from an estate all seem to be from NYC or close, and all 1850s. Logic might dictate the family came from the area to here (PA) at that time.
Annette
.