Its been quite an adventure going through all the historic objects in the house - cataloging, cleaning, identifying (what we can), and taking photographs.
One of the more prolific collections we have is the spoons. Many are sterling silver, some silver plated, some others a combination of metals. There are spoons from most of the 50 states, a multitude of other countries, some engraved with first names, or decorated with symbols from famous works of art.
We recently had a guest who offered her insight into the polishing, storage, and identification of our silver.
Some basics we learned are:
1. Sterling silver should be marked with the number 925 (or .925).
2. The United States has a reputation for not marking it's sterling silver, making it harder to identify.
3. Many countries such as England, Scotland, and Ireland have done a very good job marking and documenting silver in the past and there are some great book resources available to help with that.
4. Once silver is cleaned up and polished, it should be wrapped in silver cloth, kept away from the elements, and polished once or twice a year.
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| Jackson's Hallmarks |
As we sift through these symbols of our past, it can get overwhelming. Luckily, over the course of the last hundred or so years, we have become more aware of the value of our cultural past and have taken time and care to document and preserve what is important. Hence the value of a book with Maker's Marks (or Hallmarks) for Silver such as this one.
Now, on to the fun part!
Here lies a spoon between the pages of the book mentioned above.
When you look at the maker's mark under good light and magnification, what do you see? Two distinct set of stamps. Let's start by identifying the ones on the right.
To put it in perspective, we'll zoom out and look at a few different charts with similar stamps, all three of which would put the origin of the spoon in Birmingham, England. The stamp includes an anchor, a lion, and a cursive letter, but the shape of the shields is how we make a final identification.
It may be hard to see, but the "squares" around the shapes are flat with rounded edges on top and indented on the bottom.
Looks like we have a match! Our spoon was manufactured in 1927-28. Pretty neat, huh?
Now, there is a second stamp to decipher as well.
Here's the front of the spoon nestled between two more pages of potential matches for a Maker's Mark.
We found it!
Our spoon was manufactured by Elkington & Co. Ltd., in Birmingham, England sometime between 1927 and 1928.
I hope you found this little adventure as fun as I did when I was first learning about it. Now I have an urge to go watch Indiana Jones or Lara Croft Tomb Raider...
As always, thanks for stopping by!
