No Hallmarks - Am I Missing Something?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2023 12:58 pm
This bowl (?) was given as a christening gift in 1960. It was just recently rediscovered buried in a box in an attic. I have no other knowledge of the item.
This was after polishing. It had a pretty heavy layer of black tarnish over most of it.
Hendon Chubb was the grandfather of Hendon Chubb Pingeon. The younger Hendon was born in the summer of 1960 and his grandfather passed away just a few months later.
I can’t find any hallmarks anywhere on this. I’ve looked it over multiple times from every angle and I’ve had no luck finding anything. Is that normal? Is that bad? Could there be hallmarks hidden somewhere that I’m just not seeing?
Since there are no hallmarks, I’m hoping someone might be able to identify this style, maybe something distinctive that could lead to a certain location or silversmith.
Now this is completely a hunch, but my guess is that this piece is much older than 1960. I think this piece was probably in the Chubb family for some time and the grandfather chose to repurpose it and pass it down as a gift to his grandson. This is a bigger guess, but I’m thinking it’s of European origin?
Below are two engravings on the outside of the bowl. One is very clearly a “C”, most likely being for “Chubb”. The other appears to be a rampant lion holding a circular object. A quick Google search for “Chubb family crest” led to my finding the screenshot below.
I’m fairly confident this is silver. Without any markings, and having not run any tests on it, I can’t say with 100% certainty. But I know the Chubb family was highly successful in the 18th-20th century and they had a significant collection of fine silver. This item was found in a box with numerous other silver pieces, but this was the only one that was unmarked and of this style.
Any knowledge or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
This was after polishing. It had a pretty heavy layer of black tarnish over most of it.
Hendon Chubb was the grandfather of Hendon Chubb Pingeon. The younger Hendon was born in the summer of 1960 and his grandfather passed away just a few months later.
I can’t find any hallmarks anywhere on this. I’ve looked it over multiple times from every angle and I’ve had no luck finding anything. Is that normal? Is that bad? Could there be hallmarks hidden somewhere that I’m just not seeing?
Since there are no hallmarks, I’m hoping someone might be able to identify this style, maybe something distinctive that could lead to a certain location or silversmith.
Now this is completely a hunch, but my guess is that this piece is much older than 1960. I think this piece was probably in the Chubb family for some time and the grandfather chose to repurpose it and pass it down as a gift to his grandson. This is a bigger guess, but I’m thinking it’s of European origin?
Below are two engravings on the outside of the bowl. One is very clearly a “C”, most likely being for “Chubb”. The other appears to be a rampant lion holding a circular object. A quick Google search for “Chubb family crest” led to my finding the screenshot below.
I’m fairly confident this is silver. Without any markings, and having not run any tests on it, I can’t say with 100% certainty. But I know the Chubb family was highly successful in the 18th-20th century and they had a significant collection of fine silver. This item was found in a box with numerous other silver pieces, but this was the only one that was unmarked and of this style.
Any knowledge or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!