Cooke & Kelvey piece identification

[datsunhls30]

Hello, I recently came across these two silver Cooke & Kelvey plates(?) and would love to get some more information about them. The only place I could find any info at all was the 925-1000 site, so thank you for providing such helpful information.

They came in a padded wooden box with seemingly a faux leather or vinyl covering, and stamped metal hinges and latches. On the front of the box is a "C&K" logo (forgot to take a picture of the outside of the box). To me, this box looks somewhat cheap/modern (I would have guessed 70's era) but from what I've read, C&K was manufacturing until about 1930. Each plate weighs 107g. I did some home-gamer volume/weight measurements with a 1g resolution kitchen scale, and got for both plates: 214g/20cc, or 10.7g/cc so I'm reasonably certain they're not fake or silver plated.

First of all, I'm really curious what the year of manufacture might be.

Secondly, what would the use of this article be? Candy dish? Candle holder?







Thanks in advance!

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

Can you post a large close-up of the marks? The logo on the outside of the box is of interest as well.

Trev.

[datsunhls30]

Here's some additional images -- the marks on the silver are tiny, I used my scanner and tried to adjust them a bit to show the relief. I'll try to get some photos if these aren't good enough (the colors are a bit off from tweaking, but the contrast shows the markings better)

[dognose]

Hi,

All looks good to me, a pair of silver nut dishes perhaps?

Cooke & Kelvey are still in business in Delhi, but I can find no recent reference to their Calcutta branch still being in existence. Finding when the Calcutta/Kolkata branch closed will at least give you a latest possible date (the last concrete reference I could find was 1957).

Why not drop them an email, their website does not seem available at the moment, but I note they do have a facebook page.

Please be sure to let us know of any response you may get.

Trev.

[dognose]

I forgot to add that Cooke & Kelvey have been in the hands of the Khemka family since 1946 and it remains that way today. The firm became incorporated as Cooke & Kelvey (P)Ltd. in 1947.

Trev.

[dognose]

I note that Cooke & Kelvey Pvt. Ltd.'s registered office is still at 20, Old Court House Street, Calcutta, but find no evidence of a branch there.

Trev.

[datsunhls30]

I hesitated contacting the C&K facebook page since the current business seems to mostly deal with selling watches, and I assumed they might not have anyone that could help. I'll reach out to them soon and let you know if I learn anything.

For fun, I had a friend who is much more talented with a camera take some high detail shots of the logos, if these are helpful for your encyclopedia of marks, feel free to use them (click for the higher detail full size):

[dognose]

Thanks for the extra images, they are appreciated.

I assumed they might not have anyone that could help.

The Delhi showroom's manager, Mr. T. S. Chatterjee, was noted as holding that position for 30 years in 2007, if he's still there, he may be the ideal person to contact.

Trev.