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British Hallmark Identification

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Author	Topic: British Hallmark Identification
katehp Posts: 4 Registered: Mar 2016	posted 03-07-2016 10:46 AM Hello folks! I am working on cataloging a group of spoons, and I am having mixed success identifying hallmarks. This group of four in particular has me stumped. Spoons 1-3 are similar patterns and have the same monogram inscribed. They have a set of four hallmarks: the lion passant guardant, a... tree?, "CS", and... a horse's head? I believe the last one should be a monarch, but I can't seem to see it. The fourth spoon is a similar pattern without monogram, and with only three hallmarks - missing the one that looks like a tree to me. I believe the lion identifies these as English silver, pre-1822, and the second mark should identify the city, but after that I'm stumped. Any help is appreciated! IP: Logged
doc Posts: 728 Registered: Jul 2003	posted 03-07-2016 09:01 PM The marks may not be English; they may be Chinese Export. The initial mark looks a lot like the mark of Cumshing of Canton; I have not seen Cumshing's mark with a full set of faux hallmarks, but faux hallmarks are common for Chinese Export makers. It is difficult to tell what the last mark is on the set of marks on your spoons, so I would do a search for Cumshing marks and compare it. IP: Logged
vathek Posts: 966 Registered: Jun 99	posted 03-08-2016 07:03 AM #4 may be Cut Shing IP: Logged
Kimo Posts: 1627 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 03-08-2016 09:48 AM Hi Katehp, Welcome to the Silver Salon Forum! Before going further, could you please complete your signing up for this website and provide a bit of an introduction for yourself and your interest in silver, and mention why you are researching these particular spoons? You mention you are cataloging them, does this mean you are with a museum? Many thanks! IP: Logged
katehp Posts: 4 Registered: Mar 2016	posted 03-08-2016 09:52 AM Thanks for the corrections! Looking in the right genre of reference books now (I have "Chinese Export Silver" by Forbes, Kernan, and Wilkins), the non-distinctness of the marks makes more sense. I am now reading the second mark in 1-3 as a very fuzzy crowned leopard head stamped upside down, and the last mark on all four as a vague "sovereign head" - which would mean nothing in terms of dating or identification, correct? The "CS" mark seems to probably identify them as by Cumshing in Canton c. 1785-1840. Would the engraving of the monogram have likely been done there, or by an American retailer at the time of sale? IP: Logged
katehp Posts: 4 Registered: Mar 2016	posted 03-08-2016 10:06 AM Hi, Kimo. I am with a museum - a historic house museum where the silver is a small subset of the collection. I am researching these spoons as part of a recent donation of family silver, which included 44 assorted spoons! IP: Logged
Kimo Posts: 1627 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 03-10-2016 05:05 PM Thanks, Kate! You are correct that Chinese export marks are sometimes not very legible. Another group of sometimes odd or indistinct silver marks that at first also resemble British silver hallmarks are from the German city of Hanau where there were many silver companies. Around the first quarter of the 20th century and a bit before and after then, silver companies in Hanau became famous for making silver in older styles and marking them with a mix of pseudo-hallmarks that often resemble British sterling hallmarks but are a bit different or put together in ways that would not make sense for British hallmarks to be arranged. I agree that the first place to look is in the Chinese export silver hallmarks for the markings on these particular spoons, but keep if you do not find the exact match there it is always worth a quick peek at the Hanau markings as a last resort since the Hanau silver companies churned out large quantities of silver in the old styles. IP: Logged

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