18th century French silver maker?

[CHIMS181514]

I believe the charge is Paris 1738-1744, but am unsure of the other hallmarks. The makers mark may possibly be an OG? Does anyone have an idea of who this might be? I've looked everywhere. I'm also confused about import, duty, etc marks seeing as every piece I've seen has them. Was that a common standard back then? It seems like French silver always has an abundance of these extra hallmarks. Would really appreciate any feedback!

[JayT]

Hello
The marks you show are from top to bottom:
Maker's mark, charge mark, date letter mark, and discharge mark, in the order they were stamped, all as they should be and all in concordance. You are reading the charge mark well, Louis Robin 1738-1744. The date letter mark appears to be crowned Z for 1739, what do you think? The ox head discharge mark is also correct for the timeframe. As for the maker's mark, if you could clean it out a bit and show a sharper image I might be able to help. Could the initials be CG or GG? OG is not ringing any bells.

The 2 is most likely the owner's personal inventory mark to help keep track of the flatware!

I'm not too sure what you mean about every piece of French silver having import marks; that would depend on where you are finding your French silver. This particular object was made in Paris, so would not have a French import mark. As for duty marks, the French equivalents are the charge and discharge marks which indicate tax assessed and paid. I'm not aware of any other French duty marks; if you could clarify it would help me to comment. Yes, there could be extra marks such as recount marks, but in general, pre-Revolutionary French silver has the 4 types of marks which appear on your spoon.

Hope this helps.

[CHIMS181514]

If I had to guess I would say CG?

[JayT]

Looked at Nocq Le Poinçon de Paris, for a CG whose working dates fall into the 1738-44 timeframe when your item was made, and whose symbol looks anything like what you show (sort of a round blob between the initials). There are 2 possibilities: Claude Génu (active 1711-59), symbol a rose, and Charles Girard (active1734-74), symbol a bee. This attribution is pure speculation because neither the first initial or the symbol are clear, but I advance the names for what they are worth.

Good luck in your research!

[CHIMS181514]

Thanks again. Older hallmarks can be so difficult to identify after so many years of wear. I looked online and that hallmark book you mentioned sells for hundreds of dollars? Am I looking at the right one? I searched around for those makers you mentioned but couldn't really find all that much. Maybe it is a GG instead. Is that edition really so expensive?

[JayT]

Yes, the 4-volume Nocq is out of print, and it is very expensive if you can find it on the secondary market. Unfortunately there is no other source that is as complete for pre-Revolutionary Paris makers.