Featured Cut crystal perfume bottle with collar marked Sterling

I rarely handle this type of item. I'd appreciate any help anyone can offer. I looked over the glass for a maker's mark, but I didn't see anything. The bottle collar is marked "Sterling - ?? - C 1571". I can't decide if the ?? is actually part of the mark, or some other mark (scrape, scratch) that has happened over the years. I tried to google the number and letter, but came up empty.

It's about 4" tall including the lid (which appears to be engraved "Jennie"), and about 3" in diameter. Is the cutting considered a pineapple pattern?

Thanks!

 

Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co./International Silver.

~Cheryl

 

Thanks so much! So, the unclear mark in the center is the Knight's Head mark used sometime after 1895.

http://www.silvercollection.it/USASILSIMPSONHALL.html

I appreciate the help.

 

I bet that would be lovely all polished up!!!

 

I agree, that poor thing needs a shine!

 

Thanks for the replies - whether to polish the silver was going to be my follow-up question.

If it's marked Sterling, it should be solid silver, correct? The nicks and scratches in the tarnish to me look like they are exposing a base metal of a different color. Like I said, I don't deal with many metal items. I don't want to damage it further.

Also - it has perfume residue inside. Should I clean that out? It has a really nice smell, but is dark and goopy in the bottom of the bottle. It could be a recent scent, or the last remnants of something from the early 1900s.

 

You can clean out the perfume reidue with plain old isopryl alcohol. Just pour it in & let it sit. Periodically put your finger over the hole & give it a good shake. You may have to dump out the alcohol & put in fresh if there is a lot of residue.

 

Marked "sterling" by a reputable maker means it is solid silver. It is seriously tarnished, true, but the lighter color is simply "newer" tarnish in places where something rubbed off the "older" tarnish. Definitely not "base metal" as would be the case on plated wares. It's also very dirty so it needs to be soaked in soapy water (Dawn or a similar grease-cutting liquid dish soap) before you attempt to use silver polish to remove the tarnish layers. It's going to take a lot of elbow grease to remove.

 

Thank you both! I didn't know heavily tarnished silver needs a presoak - that's a good tip.

 

Alcohol will evaporate on its own, but water leaves moisture which is sometimes very difficult to get out of things like perfume bottles.

Bakersgma's tip is a good one. The pre-cleaning will get rid of some of the heavy tarnish & will make it easier to clean with a good silver polish. Look at this thread to see what some elbow grease & a little polishing time can do for a piece of silver.

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/heres-what-i-found-this-weekend.36673/

 

Since the silver is just on the neck of the bottle, I'm hoping I can invert it in a shallow dish of soapy water. If it won't sit upright, I'll soak the whole bottle. I've had luck with other things using an alcohol rinse to help evaporate water inside. I was so happy to learn that trick from you folks. I'm always picking up thin-necked art glass decanters. It usually works like a charm on them.