www.925-1000.com

Further research hasn't been fruitful. I did uncover the Reddit conversation linked below that essentially mirrors the discussion here. I'm still puzzled by the larger, more detailed Irish flatware representations that show four somewhat asymmetric points in the center of the motif, can't shake the ...

While on this kick I came across two Brit spoons that might be employing the Celtic star motif, or just as likely are simply using a basic sunburst theme without reference to the Irish model. English and Scottish examples below.

Yes, this star emblem seems to appear only on later 18th century Irish silver work. I have seen it only on flatware so far, would like to see a pic of your box so adorned. I have not seen the star on any fiddle pattern flatware, so it seems that its popularity faded prior to around 1800.

Thank you, Sasropakis, for your identification of the Melville family. I have Fairbairn's book, but didn't look it up as my bookcase is currently protected by a number of storage boxes, and I have been unsuccessful in the past in locating a family crest needle in the Fairbairn haystack.

Yes, the ...

Thank you, Argentum2. Yes, the flatware star does look perhaps like a simplified form of some badges of that order. The date of the spoons (ca.1790) also seems to correspond. So the Order of St. Patrick is a definite maybe!

My current interest in this motif led me to purchase the five teaspoons ...

Wow, seven year zombie thread! Any more Lewis/Lawler discoveries? ;)

Sorry about this late reply, was out of town for a while. Thank you for the responses. While they have shed light on the question, I still have a suspicion that there might be more of an explanation to support the frequency with which this star (both six and eight pointed) appears on Georgian period ...

No takers? Bueller?

Having just purchased an Irish sterling soup ladle (John Pittar, 1794), I'm interested in the finial engraving that is variously called a Dublin star or Irish star. It is a starburst pattern of six or more commonly eight points that attends a fair amount of Irish flatware. It impresses me as some ...

Thanks, Trev! The seller of the item in question indicated Twentyman, but I couldn't see the mark among my resources (which are obviously incomplete!). The mark is on a tankard (well, more correctly a cann) that the seller guestimated in a PM to me to be about 300 ml in volume (I calculated it may ...

Might anyone recognize the maker of this mark?

Does anyone else see the humor in these marks?



Did that old duty dodger reform his ways and finally go legit? Inquiring minds!

P.S. - Given the rarity of these marks, the item should go for a goodly premium, ha!

Hi, folk! Been away for a while, not really collecting much anymore, in fact getting closer to de-accession phase, alas. However, could not pass up this one, a big Hanoverian shell bowl soup ladle by Elizabeth Oldfield (14 1/8 inches long, 190 grams). Date mark is so squashed it is hard to decipher ...

Thanks for the clarification. Though a remake and not a period piece, it has a certain charm for me, one of my favorite ladles. Thanks again, take care.

Just dropping in for a moment. Have been off in another venue chasing unicorns, but recently came across the item below, a kind of a silver grail of mine for some time. The king of sterling flatware is arguably the large soup or punch ladle, and while I have a few others, I've had a hankering for a ...

Thank you for the link. It looked vaguely familiar, and a search of my bookmarks identified the web site that I had forgotten. Ding, dong! Thanks for the reminder!

Just obtained a muffineer with the marks shown below, I believe for London, 1928-29, but my references don't go that late with regards to makers. Might someone identify the silversmith responsible for this item ? TIA!

Thank you for your responses. Whether the maker's mark is actually for Argo or Allen, it appears to me that whoever fashioned the IA punch also made the ABD stamp, observing the similarity of the letters, particularly the general construction of and the serifs on the A marks. Other considerations ...

I have incoming an early Xmas present, an Old English pattern silver soup ladle that was presented by the seller as circa 1830 by unknown smith LA of Aberdeen. Given the pattern and maker's mark, I believe it's from about fifty years earlier, perhaps by John Argo of nearby Banff in around 1775-80 ...