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Hi
They asked me to identify this French centerpiece.




Since it was a composite piece, the marks were in places that were quite difficult to photograph without taking everything apart, which I preferred not to do. This is why mark photos are so blurry. I identified the Minerva with a barrel outline, for the second title, and the mark of the goldsmith Rudolphe Beunke, even if it is not clear to me what the symbol between the R and the B represents.




The strange thing that I can't explain is why several Minervae are overstruck with a reticle.
Also in the paw of one of the griffins, there is another small mark that I don't know what it means.

Can anyone enlighten me?
Thanks in advance
Amena

Hi Amena,

The small unknown mark, perhaps a French Special Use Hallmark, a so-called repayment mark.  The Leo (zodiac sign) mark indicates the repayment of domestic assay guarantee fees for items that were made for sale within France but were going to be exported out of the country. Applied at the time of export, an item bearing the Leo mark would no longer be legal for sale in France and it no longer had a guaranteed standard of fineness. This mark was discontinued in 2000. This could be the reason some of the Minerva heads were erased, made invalid.

Peter


Source; World Hallmarks-Vol.I- Europe France page 120

Hello Peter
you always amaze me
So it makes sense.
In the meantime I discovered the meaning of the symbol between the letters B R.
It's a basket. It seems upside down: who knows why?
I thank you very much.
Amena

The hallmark of Rudolphe Beunke is said to be a "van" and the letters R B. A van a flat basket used to winnow grains (throw them into the air so that the chaff is blown away before the grains fall back into the basket).
The basket should indeed have the handles near the top.
I would suggest that when the hallmark punch was being made, the basket was engraved first and then the letters were stamped into the punch. As sometimes happens in such cases, the hallmark was accidentally inverted.
The Leo hallmark used for export was only employed between 1984 and 2000, so your piece would have to have been made between that period in order to bear the Leo mark (it's not clear from the photo that that's what it is). A refund of warranty fees would not normally be made for older pieces.

Hi Bijoux,
As for the Leo (zodiac sign) hallmark, the time period it was in use, where can I find that? My source only mentions the year 2000 when it was discontinued, not when it was introduced. Would you please cite your sources. Thanks. Enjoy the weekend.

Peter.

hello,


The Zodiac Lion was introduced by the decree of 16th July 1984. Here is my source.

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/ ... ggest=true

It was cancelled by the decree of 1st August 2000, however it hadn't actually been used since 1994. Quite a few hallmarks that hadn't been used since 1994 were only suppressed in 2000 to tidy things up a bit. Here is my source.

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/ ... 0000583509

So the zodiacal lion was only used for ten years in fact. I would be surprised to see it on an antique object. Other more recent hallmarks can indeed be found on much older objects, but the lion was only applied when taxes were refunded, and I can't see any way they could be refunded on old objects, the taxes are only refunded to the silversmith who manufactured the object and paid the taxes on it initially.

Here's what I have in my book :
244. Zodiac sign of Leo in a round frame. Introduced by decree no. 84-624 of
16 July 1984, it was stamped on French-made gold or silver works bearing regulatory
domestic hallmarks and awaiting export with the request for reimbursement of excise
rights. This mark was inscribed next to the excise mark. Works bearing this mark are
not valid on French territory. The Director of the hallmark office could, at the request
of the exporter, grant him the right to store the punch and to stamp the mark himself(108).
Paris and departments, from 16 July 1984 to 1 August 2000 (withdrawn according to
decree no. 2000-745), but in fact it does not appear to have been employed since 1994 [97]

By the way, I made an interesting discovery two weeks ago. The mark MD, for Métaux Divers, which is usually found on gold or silver items with steel springs or pins, was also used on gold items with platinum between 1896 and 1910. It was only in 1910 that platinum started being treated and taxed as a precious metal in France, and until then it was considered a Diverse Metal !