Italian Silver Vase with Cabochon Stones

I have this beautiful (yes, it would be more beautiful if it was cleaned) Italian silver vase standing 18" tall and weighing roughly 1600 grams. Unfortunately, I have no idea what type of cabochon stones these are? Jade? Not many inclusions. Fairly incompetent with gems!

 

No marks ? Soak it in lukewarm water then you can scrub that polish build up out with a toothbrush and it will look worlds better. The stones MIGHT be jade.

 

I was thinking maybe chrysoprase.

Found this

Commonly Confused With Jade: Pictured here are four gems commonly confused with jade. From top left and going clockwise they are chrysoprase, maw sit sit, serpentine, and hydrogrossular garnet. They have a color, luster, and translucence that is known to occur in jade.

Copied from this site:
Go down about halfway on this site to see a description of each stone.
http://geology.com/gemstones/jade/

 

Sorry, here is the makers mark. Hard for me to decipher

 

I can see that.....thank you very much!

 

It actually looks more like the garnet. You'll have to investigate both.

 

Is there any value to the stones or is all the value in the silver?

 

I would think the value is in the maker and design as a whole piece. Not in the weight of the silver or the stones.

 

You seem to have found a very nice piece,research it well ! Sends some emails to some big name auction houses,cant hurt.

 

Your point is well taken! I just meant are these very nice gems which would lead me to believe that the piece as a whole is better than most comparable Italian silver vases or are they fairly "generic" and standard decorative additions?

 

Thank you, johnny. This is the learning experience that entices me!

 

I don't think the composition of the stones means much in this case. The value will be in the metal weight, the maker if known, and the design. The stones could be glass and it wouldn't matter at all.

 

I don't blame you for not being able to read that - all mushed together. Plus it appears to be in the pre-Fascist style - 1870's to 1933. What I can see is the 800 in oval cartouche, which I assume you know is .800 silver. The mushed part in the middle is probably a maker's mark.

What is really odd is on the left - cartouche shaped very much like the one used in the 1934 - 1960's period, but which has what looks like a parrot inside it instead of the proper provincial initials and registered maker's number. I've never seen this before and I can only assume that it too is some maker's device.

 

Italy is a real jade country, so it could be jade. But as evelyb said, it doesn't matter to the value.

 

More likely to be good glass. Not that it matters.

 

My sentiments also, Baker! I worked on this marking yesterday coming up with nothing but the 800 purity. Like you it looks like a parrot in the left lozenge. I tried to make it a "fasces" in the middle with the number 1 or l on each side, but that didn't work even if a fasces. The middle cartouche was hopeless.

___ Susan

 

Wow - those are some difficult marks. The center mark looks to me like one of the numerous crown marks used by Petruzzi & Branca, and their registered mark should be '1 BS', but am just not seeing the Brescia 'BS'...

Here is a similar vase by Petruzzi & Branca:

https://ustar.cz/en/auctions/2nd-auction-ustar/a2/silver/c23/silver-vase/p529

~Cheryl

 

Cheryl,

Thanks for your research. I often struggle with Italian hallmarks but this one is an enigma, for sure!

Dan