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Can you help me interpret these candlestick marks?
Does the crown also indicate the year range of 1807-1810?
Does the orientation of the stripe within the oval matter? Because its opposite orientation of listed Utrecht mark.
Does the date letter mean 1809 or 1960? Both look similar??
Who is the maker that marked VV with Star? Or how do I research this?
Is the hatchet french or dutch mark? Does the dutch hatchet indicate silver fineness .833?

Here is my interpretation
Crown: Silver fineness .934 (1807-1810)
Oval+Stripe: likely Utrecht
"a" date letter: likely 1809 (or 1960?)
VV with Star: ___________?
Hatchet: likely 1853-1927 Duty Mark (or French tax free mark), may indicate fineness?

See larger images:

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Nice pair of Empire style candle sticks with the (hall)marks Kingdom of Holland (1806-1810). When the "Lowlands" were occupied by the French (Napoleonic era). The year letter a used after 7th October 1807 till 18 March 1809. Oval with cross bar, the Assay office mark city of Utrecht, used (1807-1810). The Crown, the standard mark, for 11 Penningen & 5 grein or 934.028 fineness. The maker's mark V:V under a star for: Nicolaas van Voorst, born Utrecht 1758, registered silversmith in Utrecht 1782-1820 (died). Maker's mark used by Nicolaas; NVV and an Oval (1782-1811), VV with arrow in the middle (1812/1820).

The Hatchet: the 1853 duty mark for old silver objects of national origin returned to the trade. In accordance with several resolutions with further clarifications, this mark was intended for objects with the hallmarks ( standard marks) of the ancient Netherlands silversmiths companies.The use of this mark was abolished in 1927 for two reasons: 1st . The lack of knowledge of the old marks has caused this mark to be sometimes struck on old foreign objects. 2nd. this mark had often been counterfeited and used to give objects an antique aura. The difference with the older French hatchet mark, the French mark was struck tax free on objects with valid hallmarks. The Dutch hatchet is a duty mark, it does not guarantee any specific fineness.

See:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32028#p80300


Peter

oel wrote: Hi, welcome to the forum.

Nice pair of Empire style candle sticks with the (hall)marks Kingdom of Holland (1806-1810).

Peter

Wow! Thanks! Youre a wealth of knowledge. I got them from a shop, for my sister as wedding gift. The guy that sold them to me didnt seem to know much about them. He didnt know the maker. Was skeptical that the age was 1809 due to nice condition. And didnt know the hatchet mark meaning. The info you have provided is ideal. Now I can write up a little bio to go with the gift which makes it more special and interesting. So excited. Ty