Birks Faux Marks Inkwell Stand

[ronenros]

Hi Everyone,

I hope that I'm in the right category as technically, I think that this is a Canadian piece. It appears to me to be an inkwell stand and is stamped "Birks". I brought it to the local silversmith, who tested it, and determined that it is 900 silver. The piece has 4 other marks, including a crowned G, a Fleur de Lys, the letter "N" and a small letter "P". I'm quite confused by this piece and am thinking that maybe it is a copy of an earlier piece - the crowned G, at least to me, appears to indicate Georgian period and the Fleur de Lys appears to indicate French Canada. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[kozy845]

Several years ago I bought a beautiful Birks epergne. It was marked "Birks" and also had what looked like very legitimate English hallmarks. Four stamps in a straight line, near the base. The seller claimed it was made in England for Birks. Unfortunately I didn't save any photos and no longer have the piece. I don't think I bothered to verify this as I believe it was also marked "sterling".

[kerangoumar]

i do not recognize the marks; birks has usually marked their merchandise with their name whether they made it or not - i have an example but the address of the picture only leads to the home page of the auction house.

that is not to say the marks might not belong to the company from some earlier day, however i recall their marks virtually always following the style of english hallmarks, which would exclude these marks.

[kerangoumar]

sorry, my browser is acting up - meant to add that in my experience, which may not be all that definitive, birks-made silver says BIRKS in a box, possibly accompanied by their pseudomarks - there is an entire book on them somewhere - and silver retailed by them has BIRKS without the box. i could be wrong. and if this post appears more than once i promise to spend the day polishing silver.

[ronenros]

Hi Kozy,

Thanks for writing. I do know that Henry Birks was born in Montreal in 1840, became a partner in Savage & Lyman in 1868 and opened his own shop in 1879. His parents immigrated to Montreal in 1832 from England and I do think that some items were produced for Birks in England, although Henry Birks was a trained silversmith. These hallmarks, however, aren't British, but appear to be pseudo-hallmarks of some sort. I just don't know why Birks would have chosen a crowned G and a fleur-de-lys, unless it is a copy of an older Canadian piece. I guess that my question would be if anyone ever saw these hallmarks used on any other Canadian silver.

Thanks again

[blakstone]

The faux marks are German, which my research has tentatively attributed to Ludwig Neresheimer of Hanau.

[ronenros]

Blakstone,

Thank you very much - I've learned online that the crowned G mark id an unidentified maker. That explains the piece as being 900 silver content. A website also mentions that a lot of Hanau silver was imported into the UK, so I guess that Birks imported this piece into Canada. I really appreciate your help!

Best regards