posted 02-10-2006 07:11 AM            

Does anyone know where to find a list of Austrian-Hungarian assay offices? With the Diana head, there are the ciphers (1,2,3 and 4 for the alloy) and letters for the city where the pieces were assayed. 'A' for Vienna, 'C' for Prague (from memory so I'm not sure), but what about the rest of the alphabet? Is there a book that lists these letters and cities?

And - final question - If objects were imported, did they always bear f.i. the 'A' mark or could they be imported via different assay offices?

posted 02-10-2006 11:42 AM            

The different numbers:

Silvercontent: 1 = 950/1000, 2 = 900/1000, 3 = 800/1000, 4 = 750/1000

A = Wien

B = Linz

C = Praha

D = Brno

E = Kraków

F = Lwow

G = Graz

H = Hall (until 1872)

H = Bregenz (since 1872)

K = Klagenfurt

L = Ljubliana

M = Trieste

N = Zadar (only in the years 1866-67)

P = Pest

R = Koslice

T = Timiscara

U = Alba Julia

V = Zagreb

posted 02-12-2006 06:29 PM            

Oh, and thank you so much, Sazikov, for the list. Now I know that my Austrian set is from Vienna. For some reason, I had always assumed that Vienna's letter might be W. But I always assume too much!

posted 03-28-2006 03:02 AM            

Also, I think the Austrian “A” import mark is not for the Vienna office, but indeed for "ausland". The mark is actually “AV” (“AU”) conjoined, and it, too bore various assay office letter codes in the margin; I know I have seen it with the “C” for Prague.

Finally, Sazikov’s list is extensive and should identify 99% of Austrian silver of the period one should come across. However, as he points out, the Austrian Empire was far and wide. I’ve created a web page which has, I think, the most exhaustive list of Austrian assay office codes of the 1867-1922 period.

I compiled this list:

1. as a little example of the sort of information I’d like to include in my book – if I ever finish it; fifteen years and still going;
2. because I’m a little obsessive/compulsive; and
3. well, I’m frankly showing off a little. I’ve had a rough couple of months; sue me.

posted 03-28-2006 03:56 AM            

May I offer my congratulations - and thanks! - for the web link. Very useful, I have already bookmarked it.

posted 03-28-2006 08:12 AM            

1. We all want the book.

2. If your on this site by definition your O/C.

3. We all like it when you (and some others with accents to us yanks) show off.

4. Please trudge on we are with you!

posted 03-28-2006 03:04 PM            

I know from experience and observation that it can be hard to put an end to a book project; there always are more things that could be added or edited (I've published one monograph, several edited volumes, and dozens of shorter pieces, so I know this subject all too well). One of the main arts in writing a book is in fact knowing when to say, enough. If authors waited until everything was perfect, we'd have no books to read! So by all means, work on it until it's a coherent whole, and correct things you can as you go, but I'd join the chorus urging you to publish as soon as you can -- so the rest of us can also benefit from your research!

posted 03-28-2006 07:25 PM            

I like Tardy, but find it is has one irritating quirk: the translator left the countries in the French alphabetical order. Germany is thus in the "a" section as it would be for "Allemagne".

posted 03-29-2006 09:19 PM            

Any chance you could post a photo? I am having trouble visualizing what you describe and am wondering if it might be something other than Austro-Hungarian. A woman's head was a fairly common motif in several European hallmarks.

posted 03-30-2006 07:58 AM            

OK Here is the backmark for the T B one The IS is just way to small to try.

posted 03-30-2006 04:28 PM            

I would say the letters are almost certainly makers marks rather than town marks. Tardy does not list makers, and I don't have a good source. Blackstone and/or Sazakov will probably come up with the answer. Very nice spoon similar to one I picked up from the region.

posted 03-31-2006 10:34 PM            

First, we need to know what city we're in. The outline of the Diana's head mark tells me that the spoons are the third standard of .800; there should be a number "3" to the left, behind her head, to confirm this. There should also be a letter to the right, in front of her face; this letter identifies the assay office which you can find on the posts/links above.

If it's A for Vienna, then the maker can probably be identified. If not, your chances of identifiying the maker decrease drastically.

I will say that this double-swell fiddle handle was most popular in the mid-19th C.; although it was passé by the turn of the century, it was certainly made well into the 1900s. Frankly, I rather like it; it just seems so summer of '48 to me.

posted 04-01-2006 04:46 PM            

The mark appears to be that of Viennese silversmith Theodor Bittner (master 1857). That's assuming that the piece is from Vienna; without the assay office code, I can't be certain. If there is no letter in front of Diana's face, then it probably dates from the 1867-1872 period, and I'd surmise that the assay office code was omitted. (Though I'm always leery of such "mistakes"; assay office personnel were highly trained officials and true errors are, in my experience, rare.)