Forks with 2 marks

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moonshine
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Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:36 pm

Forks with 2 marks

Post by moonshine »

Hello All. I'm wondering why these forks only have 2 marks. I found an A dot L maker's mark on silvermakersmarks site in London section, 1820, unlisted, but I'm not sure if this is the same.
My second question is if there was a third tong that was removed or not. It doesn't look to me as if there was, but perhaps someone can better tell.
Thank you in advance.

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AG2012
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Re: Forks with 2 marks

Post by AG2012 »

Hi,
Two prong serving fork. The missing city mark was not uncommon for London,especially for flatware and small items.
Regards.
agphile
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Re: Forks with 2 marks

Post by agphile »

I cannot help with the maker's mark. With no King's Head duty mark the fork must be prior to 1784. Perhaps a maker in a lost register. Unusual to be marked above the tines rather than on the stem.

You write of forks in the plural. Is this one of a set? And what size is the fork? Looks quite small. Possibly some sort of sweetmeat fork rather than a serving fork. In any event, unusual for English silver of the period.
agphile
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Re: Forks with 2 marks

Post by agphile »

A quick afterthought. Could it be an altered spoon? There is a little notch between the tines that intrudes on the pattern suggesting that something has happened there.
dognose
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Re: Forks with 2 marks

Post by dognose »

Hi,

Regarding the unusual positioning of the marks. Between about 1770 and 1780 Goldsmiths Hall performed several experiments on hallmark positioning. An article was published in 'The Finial' (Vol.14/06) by Anthony Dove, in it he illustrates a four tined fork by Thomas Heming c.1770 struck with only a Lion Passant along side the maker's mark placed at the base of the tines at the rear, and another example of similar marking on a George Smith fork c. 1775. These experiments were probably to prevent damage to the decoration that was becoming more and more popular on flatware.

Trev.
dognose
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Re: Forks with 2 marks

Post by dognose »

An example of Goldsmiths Hall experimental marking on an Old English Bead tablespoon.
Two marks only, Lion Passant and maker's mark:

X

A similar example of experimental marking, this time from the Dublin Assay Office:

X

The trend towards more decorated stems on flatware caused marking problems before the marks were moved further along the stem.

X

Trev.
AG2012
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Re: Forks with 2 marks

Post by AG2012 »

Hi,
Yes, traces of filing and interrupted pattern.
Suspicious, anyway.
moonshine
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:36 pm

Re: Forks with 2 marks

Post by moonshine »

Thank you for all your responses and great info. as always.
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