www.925-1000.com

Interesting and pretty rare. I recall a similar spoon being illustrated in the Finial 10 or more years ago and thinking I would quite like an example, but I never came across one for sale and have since drifted into other collecting priorities. I think I have seen mid rib variants on early Hanoveria...

Taylor and Hamilton, Glasgow, c.1780. The shape is named Scottish Fiddle in Pickford because of its popularity north of the border.

A cigarette dispenser, for loose cigarettes rather than a packet, seems a possibility to me. I guess they had fallen out of fashion well before the end of the 20th century, but at drinks parties in my youth containers with cigarettes would often be placed alongside the ashtrays on side tables. This ...

There is a Lyme Regis in Dorset but not in Norfolk. Regis means King's so I think Lym Regis in Norfolk must actually have meant Lynn Regis, i.e. King's Lynn.

It is a crumb scoop rather than a serving piece.

I couldn’t resist playing round a bit further with the inscription. I have flipped the image to show it would appear when used as a signet to leave an impression on wax. http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1352/13610430/24396422/413420116.jpg As I said before, I believe this transliterates as something...

@AG2012 My apologies for jumping in with a translation of the maker’s name which may have been self-evident to you. I have also been wondering about the inscription. When I look at more ancient Cyrillic alphabets such as Old Church Slavonic I notice that some letter forms are different from the mode...

PS Phil's silvermakersmarks site is very useful as a supplement to or substitute for the printed reference books if you have only occasional need to check British marks. He shows Dicks' pre 1811 marks as appearing on flatware which might help reassure you.

Grimwade is the best source for London makers. He records Dicks as entering his first mark as a bucklemaker in 1792. He entered his sixth mark as a spoon maker in 1811 and further marks from 1821 in partnership with James Dicks. It would seem he diversified into spoonmaking as buckles became less fa...

And I should have added Majdanpek is the town where the goldsmiths workshop is situated.

Zlatara in Serbian means Goldsmith.

I can see the images now, but fear I cannot help.

But I should have added that it is a nicely made fun object in its own right.

If I wanted to seek out a source of inspiration I would be more inclined to look to pottery by the Martin Brothers (of Fulham, UK).

English so-called duty dodgers are typically from the early or mid 18th century. The style of this spoon, as far as English patterns are concerned, would place it in the late 18th or 19th century when marks were normally struck at the top of the stem. There could still be reasons for not having a fu...

My pleasure. If you want to find out more about Smyth you can find a biography, mainly on his political career, in the History of Parliament Online. It is pleasing to note he was a consistent opponent of the slave trade. In 1778 he married a daughter of the Duke of Grafton. Setting up for family lif...

P.S. The John Smyth mentioned above was a well-connected British politician and Member of Parliament.

The British Armorial Bindings website illustrates a similar crest (out of a ducal coronet a demi bull rampant collared) on a binding for John Smyth (1748-1811). He may or may not have also been the owner of your tankard. It could have been another family member, or more than one family may have used...

The mark also appears as Grimwade 3508, noted on a sugar caster of 1714, name still untraced.It is probably an unregistered mark of a known silversmith whose name begins Co. The outline of the cartouche has some similarity to the mark of George Cox but I know him as a specialist spoon maker and am n...

A correction to a slip of the typing finger. In my initial reply I said the mark had been noted on flatware, I should have typed hollow ware. I can only plead that, as a spoon collector, I am less accustomed to typing "hollow" and automatic pilot took over.