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 snuffbox with unknown (hall)marks
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| Author | Topic: snuffbox with unknown (hall)marks |
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goldresearch Posts: 15 |
posted 04-06-2012 03:01 PM
  
[26-2278] I got an old snuffbox (without patina???) with two marks in it I have never seen before. Best regards IP: Logged |
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Hose_dk Posts: 400 |
posted 04-07-2012 01:59 AM
You say no patina - do you mean no dirt? The hallmark is worn - and that is patina. Don't know where from but the face look like one of the former USSR republichs Poland Czech... or similar IP: Logged |
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goldresearch Posts: 15 |
posted 04-07-2012 04:07 AM
Oh, sorry! In German is patina the reaction product of copper or silver and so on with air and its pollution. Patina on silver ist mostly black. You cannot wipe away with a tissue, only with acides or bases or other chemicals. goldresearch IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 04-07-2012 09:50 AM
In English the word for the the black color on silver is tarnish. Tarnish is created when the top layer of silver has a chemical reaction to sulfur that is in the air and in many common things around a house such as rubber, wool, some kinds of paint, etc., or in some kinds of food such as eggs or foods that contain eggs. The silver on the surface of an object turns into silver sulfide which is black in color. When you remove this tarnish, you are removing a very small amount of the top layer of silver, both in the silver that has turned into silver sulfide, and when your polish or polishing cloth rubs on the silver and the abrasion takes some of the silver off of the object. In English the term patina is the natural wear and aging of the surface of the metal. This comes from the normal handling of the object, the rubbing away of the surface from tiny scratches as it is used, and from the tarnish that builds up in the crevices and creases in the design. Both of these features are important parts of a patina. The tarnish in the crevices and low areas of the design give it a three dimensional appearance in the same way an artist uses light and dark colors to paint an object to give it a three-dimensional appearance. Your snuff box still has the part of its patina from the wearing down of the silver and the millions of small scratchs on it, but it has also lost the other equally important part of its patina which is the build up of tarnish in the small crevices and around the low areas of the design. Someone has polished all of that away, and most likely has done so by using a chemical dip or a buffing machine. This is unfortunate. Eventually it can be allowed to come back, but it will take a great many years. You can artifically bring it back but it will not look right - this kind of residual tarnish really does need to be a natural process over the decades and centuries to look right. The only correct way to polish silver is by hand with a non-abrasive silver polishing paste and a clean, soft, cotton cloth. Anything else will cause damage to the object and its patina. [This message has been edited by Kimo (edited 04-08-2012).] IP: Logged |
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goldresearch Posts: 15 |
posted 04-07-2012 02:46 PM
Many thanks to Kimo for the explanation. goldresearch IP: Logged |
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goldresearch Posts: 15 |
posted 04-15-2012 03:43 AM
Refresh IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 04-15-2012 03:38 PM
Below is what I see. The acorn thing on the right is familiar but I can not recall from where. IP: Logged |
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goldresearch Posts: 15 |
posted 04-18-2012 02:24 PM
Thank you Martin for your drawing! I see also an acorn and a "P" on the left. Could also be a Cyrillic "R". Maybe the "c" or "o" is an artifact. Does somebody know a side with Sicilian hallmarks? Maybe the head is Sicilian. Kind regards goldresearch IP: Logged |
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