www.925-1000.com

Hello All,
I have inherited a great deal of silver from a European family, and have done a decent job of identifying most of it, but this unique ladle with a wooden handle and ivory knop has me stumped. I've attached a few images of the maker's marks, as they are very difficult to discern and every angle helps. I think the word written in script may be "Schmidt," but I can't be sure. The numbers that follow would seem to indicate the purity of the silver, but they just look like two zeroes to me, so perhaps the strike was off. As for the final mark, 27, I really have no idea!

It's clearly not from England, and it doesn't resemble any of the other country marks I've seen on silver items from the estate. Is it French??
Many thanks for your help!

I think 27 is the Year.

is [Schwaz] or [Schwarz] a posibility?

probalby it is from North-Germany or Danish


there was a family Schwarz in Teterow an Neubrandenburg

I think it could Neubrandenburg or Teterow
Theodor Gustav Friedrich Schwarz
born ca.1788 in Ivenack
learning 1803-09
master 1814 -> ca.1820 Teterow

or Otto Emil Carl Schwarz
learning 1803-09 in Neubrandenburg
Master in Teterow


there are some samples with Year as mark from Neubrandenburg

This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much for sharing your expertise!
If 27 is the year, given the biographical notes you've provided, it would seem to be 1827, correct?
And that would make this part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire? (The family I inherited this from resided in Prague during that period.)
By 1927, I assume the marks would have been more standardized, so I can rule that out?
Do you think the two zeroes in the center strike are meant to indicate 800, the typical purity for silver from this region?
Or do they indicate something else altogether? (Not sure when these numerical designations came into use.)
Very grateful for any further thoughts!

It is [Schwarz] ?
I am not sure about the makersmark.

I have done a little more research online, and I think the mark in the center is "90," which was used to designate 900 silver around that time in Russia and eastern Europe. Does that make sense?
I also think it's possible that the mark on the left says "Schifere," as I found something very similar that fits into the same time-frame: http://www.silvercollection.it/austrian ... marks.html
It's the third example under the catergory of Austrian Silver maker's marks:
Vienna 1848: Meister Schifere
ref: Rosenberg/Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen IV No.7861

Thoughts, anyone?

OK, it is not 90 but probably 69 = Cancer.
There are some Danish towns with this kind of marks.