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I have an old silver salver of which I have had no luck finding its origin. It has a zig zag mark on the back which I believe was used to assay silver in the 17th and 18th century if I'm not mistaken. Additionally, it has two other marks on the topside rim. One mark is of a crown and the other is a burning castle with a lion.
The salver came with a pewter plate which has the same burning castle and lion mark so I've been trying to use the pewter marks to help in identifying the silver plate. The pewter plate has a 1708 date which fits with the zigzag mark and also a mark with a palm tree, a setting sun and initials GBK. I thought the palm tree mark could be Bermuda, Barbados or even South Carolina but I have not been able to find any information to tie it to any location. I've gone through every page of Tardys and could not find anything matching the marks, any help would be greatly appreciated!!!





Pewter Marks
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(admin photo edit - images too large - insert as link only - see Posting Requirements)

Hi,
The 'crown' is a good match for those used on Spanish Colonial silver in Central America, especially; Guatemala, Leon (Nicaragua), & San Salvador. However, can find no match for the 'lion rampant and lighthouse' which is likely the municipal or territorial mark. It is a beautiful antique piece and I'm hopeful someone else will be able to identify its origins.

Regards, Tom

Thanks very much!!! I had no clue it could be Spanish Colonial. I just did some research on Spanish colonial silver and just realized some of the simple, crude and unmarked silver pieces I had in my melt pile are most likely Spanish colonial as well. Can you recommend a reference guide for the region? Is there another world guide for marks which supplements Tardy's?

Hi Pdx57,

This is a wild guess and I have no good sources more than a picture of a pewter town mark from Meissen (about 1690). I know well that Rosenberg suggested another mark with crossed swords over the letter M, but I think he is a bit vague.




There seems to be some traces of more marks below the crown, am I correct?

I will move it to the German section and let us see what they say about my suggestion.

Hope this helps.

Best regards/JAKJO

very interesting

in the book from Helmut Seling "europäische Stadtmarken" is an image from Scheffler (Goldschmiede Rheinland-Westfalens) Nr 242 - with a lion an a town in a recktangle from 1788 (Dülken Germany)


Arms of Dülken

Thanks very much for all the input!! I found two references which have the exact crown and rampant lion marks. Spanish Colonial Silver by Leona Davis Boylan and Marcas de Plateria Hispanoamericana: Siglos XVI-XX by Cristina Esteras Martin. Both references attribute the marks to Guatemala/Chiapas.
Thanks to all for your help!

Hello.

Here's a scan from Leona Davis Boylan's book "Spanish Colonial Silver".




Pat.

Hi,

The maker of your pewter plate is Gottfried Benjamin Krause, master in Meissen 1815 and a member of the guild until 1852, when he died. His widow continued with the business until 1854 and then his son.
Ref: Hintze, Erwin, (1921), Sächsische Zinngiesser, Leipzig: Karl W Hierseman. (G. B. Krause # 964)

Best regards/JAKJO

I have a pewter tureen with similar maker's marks. However the rampant lion has a crown and I do not see a lighthouse. There are slight variations on this mark such as the tail. There is also a second stamp with the mark, "S.W. FEIN ZIN" and then it is hard to read. It may be of similar origin and period. I will try to post images soon. Thanks for all the info & input.

Hi t19,

Welcome to the Forum.

Please start a new thread with the images of of your item and the marks.

Post in the Silverplate Trademarks-Worldwide section of the forum.

Trev.