Featured Austro-Hungarian (?) Silver Tray Thingy.

I was told that this was turn-of-the-century Austro-Hungarian silver. I don't know much about A-H'ian silver marks, so...um...help!

 

Very pretty, Shangas. Bonbon tray?
Those don't look like Austro-Hungarian silvermarks to me. Not even unofficial 'devil-may-care' provincial, which is different from official Austro-Hungarian.

800Mes probably means 800 millesimal fineness, so we have to look for a country that marks fineness with ...Mes.
I suspect the other mark is upside down, and should be a D with two feathers(?). Or with a butcher's knife and a feather?
Nothing so far.

I just got my Tardy on silver out. But if anyone else has Tardy (or Divis) please help, because my reading and searching skills are minimal at the moment.

 

I can't help, but that is lovely, Shangas!

 

Lily of the valley flowers, so probably European and Northern at that.

It's a card presentation tray, by the look of it. One's butler used it to bring a visitor's card to milady.

I wonder if it's Belgian. Doesn't look like any of the other obvious countries that use/d 800 purity. Although.... is that a worn grouse's head? Swiss? @Fid

 

I would think a card tray as well, circa 1900 - and also Belgian, considering the form of the maker's mark and the 'Millièmes' fineness mark. Please see the information at the end of this article: http://www.ascasonline.org/ARTICOLONOVE69.html

~Cheryl

 

Oh, very pleasing. Thanks Cheryl!

 

problem with this mark - I've never seen Millièmes abbreviated that way. and during the directoire it was on and off in use.
in Switzerland there was no unity till 1880. before they used the loth system.
another possibility could be French Indochina if someone deciphers the square mark as Chinese or such. .

 

Though not illustrated, Martine D'Haeseleer's article mentions the use of 'Mes' combined with the numeric fineness.


~Cheryl

 

I was told when I bought it, that it was Austro-Hungarian. In retrospect the fact that it wasn't should've been obvious by the marks.

So, 800 silver, Belgian?

 

800 silver for sure, and I think my original surmise, with Cheryl's far more detailed research points to Belgium. Late 19thC Art Nouveau.

There is also a strong tradition of lily of the valley being a Belgian symbol, so that helps too. I quote:this then got picked up by the Belgians.

As the story goes, on the first of May 1561, King Charles of France—who was ten at the time—was presented with a fragrant bunch of muguet: the delicate green sprigs capped with tiny white bells that we know as lily of the valley. It was a gesture signifying luck and prosperity, which so touched the king, he continued the tradition by giving the sweet-smelling blossoms to the ladies of his court each year on the same day.

 

It doesn't read Austro-Hungarian to me either. It reads Grab-me.

 

In my opinion, the square hallmark containing a rasor is french and France is the country which use square mark for plated metal, with the makers identification to more precise, not for the silver grade, look on ASCAS archive for more examples.
Now it's time for me to go sleeping but later I look in my books for the 800… mark, I've seen that before somewhere.
The look is french too for me not german, in the "Belle Epoque" manner before the real Art nouveau style.
I found a part of the information, the use of square hallmarks in the book of M. Carré.

 

In France and francophone Belgium children used to give a bunch of lily of the valleys to their mothers on may 1st.

If the D in the mark is a Belgian town mark, during that period it would be for Liège. Liège is francophone.

I don't know much about silverplate, but there is wear on this tray, and it looks like it is solid silver. The silver marking liberalism mentioned in Cheryl's link, together with the Mes in the mark, means that Belgian silver could be an option.
The tray is not as flamboyant as Belgian designs often were in the period, as Martine D'Haeseleer's article shows, but there are always exceptions.

 

If you look closely on the pictures, this tray seems to be repolished, all details are worn, and it's typical from something replated, in Belgium I can't find something similar for silver, but if I translate : Les ouvrages argentés portent deux poinçons : 1°Celui de maitre; 2°le chiffre de la charge de poids d'argent déposé.
The plated works carry two hallmarks: 1°that of master; the figure of the weighty load of put down silver.
The belgian silversmith hallmark has the form of a barrel normally but the french hallmarks have always something in the cartouche with the initials for the maker.
That seems to be more correspondant, what do you think ?

 

I must say, I only know French maker's marks for silver and gold, which are usually in a lozenge shaped cartouche.
Silverplate is not my forte, the others may know more.