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 Mischief
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| Author | Topic: Mischief |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 06-18-2010 07:36 PM
  
[01-2840] The above small bowl is Old Sheffield Plate, but this post is not about the bowl or what it is made of as much as what someone did to it after it was made. As you can see in the second picture, someone as scratched through the maker’s or retailer’s mark so that it is no longer readable. Agphile in his post on Early English Spoons showed an example of what the Marquess of Breadalbane added to his spoons. I can speculate that the Marquess either did not trust his help or that he had an overactive ego. In the case of the defaced maker’s marks on the bowl I am at a loss to understand why anyone in their right mind would do this. I have seen this type of defacement before and I will most likely see it again, but I will never understand what the person thought he was doing. Does anyone understand what was going on in the mind of the person that would do this? IP: Logged |
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jersey Posts: 1203 |
posted 06-18-2010 08:58 PM
Just a guess, but perhaps these items were stolen & were descibed with makers marks Etc. & reported , but without marks it would make it more difficult to ID? Jersey IP: Logged |
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Dale Posts: 2132 |
posted 06-18-2010 09:38 PM
Two ideas. One, the products had some sort of defect and had to be sold as seconds. In this case the maker did not want his name on them. The Meriden Brittania Company stamped an arrow thru their marks on factory seconds. It could be that a retailer preferred that the customer not know the name of the maker. This prevents the customer from contacting the maker directly. Third thought, this could be to avoid paying custom duty on an import. IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 06-18-2010 10:29 PM
Jersey's idea and Dale's last thought make the most sense to me. The scraches seem to have been made by someone in haste and without skill. A thief would fit both of these requirements. Thanks IP: Logged |
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ellabee Posts: 306 |
posted 06-19-2010 03:45 PM
When I first opened the post, I thought for sure the 'mischief' reference was to the reflection in the item in the first image, which looks for all the world like a dog's head puppet held on a stick... On the actual topic, this almost has to have been a thief or a fence. Even in the (uncommon?) event of a jeweler seeking to obliterate a maker's mark, it's difficult to imagine one who would put slashes like those onto something going to a customer. IP: Logged |
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jersey Posts: 1203 |
posted 06-19-2010 05:11 PM
Hello again! May I ask the measurements of the bowl please? Jersey IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 06-20-2010 12:50 AM
Jersey, it is a shallow bowl 1 ¼”tall and a little over 8” wide. I like the decoration around the rim, but probably brought it because of the damage it sustained just to give it a good home. I use it sometimes for a wine bottle coaster and sometimes as a tray for a silver coffee pot. It is really too big for a wine coaster and too small for a tray, but I like to look at the bold decoration on the rim. It is one piece that I leave out most of the time. Ellabee your idea on the reflection is great. The first picture I took showed the reflection of the camera and the second showed a dog on a stick. I liked the second one better. The spot in the picture is the copper showing through. Surprisingly that is the only place where the silver has worn away. [This message has been edited by ahwt (edited 06-20-2010).] IP: Logged |
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Marc Posts: 414 |
posted 06-20-2010 01:37 AM
Hi guys and Gals, A few questions come to mind.. 1st, was Sheffield silver considered valuable enough to steal?.. 2nd, I can still see the outline of the makers marks beneath the scratches, and if I can, so could the original owner or police?.. Why not scratch through it completely?.. The way I see it, since the scratches through the marks are not complete, could this defacement have been done in anger, or perhaps by a drunk, or perhaps by a drunk who did not want folks to know he owned plated ware, not real silver? Oh... here is a thought.. Could this have been done by a child? Marc (once a child)
IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 06-20-2010 07:57 AM
My understanding was that most people didn't know what the hallmarks meant anyway, and that OSP marks looked like silver marks to most people. Perhaps if stolen the thief thought it was sterling, but it seems like an odd thing to do to scratch it off. IP: Logged |
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DB Posts: 252 |
posted 06-20-2010 12:09 PM
The only defaced marks I ever saw was on sterling - English plate committee - I have to look through my cupboards to find this piece and make a photo. I also saw cancelled marks once on a teaset by Puiforcat. That the marks on your piece are defaced makes no sense whatsoever.......I agree with Marc, nowadays the police would surely not deal with the theft of items like this. Hopefully Marc - you were once a kind and not a destructive child. IP: Logged |
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jersey Posts: 1203 |
posted 06-20-2010 01:26 PM
Awht! A wine bottle coaster was my first thought & that might account for the wear. A destructive child indeed Mark! Who were the parents that gave such a tool to gouge it out like that! It was surely not a crayon. Jersey IP: Logged |
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Marc Posts: 414 |
posted 06-20-2010 05:51 PM
Hi there Jersey girl, Parents don't give destructive tools; children take.. A nail or a file is not usually out of reach of a 6 year old, specially one who climbs. Marc IP: Logged |
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DB Posts: 252 |
posted 06-20-2010 05:54 PM
I was a destructive child, I still can remember my mother's face after I had engraved my name (scissors) on her grand piano, when six years old - but I never touched the silver...... IP: Logged |
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jersey Posts: 1203 |
posted 06-20-2010 07:14 PM
To Marc....sorry I spelled your name wrong! My Dh & I have raised & still think We are still doing so, 3 sons & are working now on my Grandson who is 2! DB...... I gave my Grandson a mini hockey stick with a foam ball.... No puck yet, though we have lots of them, today & crayons & books. NO scissors or steel or silver nail files. I hide everything, & yes, I give him a step stool cause he'll find a way anyway! If he does anything he shouldn't they all know the Grandma glare. Have a great day! Jersey IP: Logged |
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