I have had this box for a while now & I really need to send it to a new home. I do want to make sure I am understanding & describing it correctly. I was told by @Any Jewelry when I first got it that it was Hannau silver. I don't remember if she told me or if I found it on my own but my notes have the marks ID'd as being from Karl Kurz Silberwarenfabrik Kesselstadt. This piece is 2 7/8" by 1 5/8" across the lid & is 7/16" deep. It weighs 38 grams. My questions are; 1 - Is Hannau silver considered sterling silver? 2 - What do the second set of marks on the bottom represent? 3 - Is there any meaning to the marks shown in the last photo that are on the lid? Thaanks for any & all advice or opinions!!
Hanau (only n) is not always sterling, but in this case, it was assayed in England upon import (the second set of marks.) The lion rampant is the English mark for sterling. The F is the import mark and the SBL is the mark of the "sponsor" who submitted the item for marking. The crown is for Sheffield and the lower case h is the date code. I'll look at the Hanau pages and assuming I can find Karl Kurz etc there and the SBL in the Sheffield pages I'll be back with more info.
The assay in Sheffield took place in 1900. http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Dates/Sheffield/Date Letters H.html SBL for Samuel B Landeck http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Makers/Sheffield-S.html#SB Note that he was an importer of foreign silver!
Here's the Kurz info. Note that he (like most Hanau makers used several different combinations of "marks." Hanau had no official list of symbols with official meanings so they were free to use whatever "pseudomarks" they wanted to. The 3 marks on your box are second down in the lefthand column of his firm's info (scroll down to see the name.) https://www.925-1000.com/Fgerman_hanau_marks_01.html
I have used the site in the past but got the information I already had from this site. http://www.silvercollection.it/germansilverhallmarks4.html I was just a little confused by the other marks. There was an old tag inside when I bought it that said something about it being assayed but I wasn't believing anything until I heard it from someone I trust.
JMHO. a typical combination of Hanau pseudo-marks to deceive all the customs that were against Calvinism and forbade the import. fake lion passant afterwards legalized and restamped with the F for foreign by an English Calvinist brother, fake French fleur-de-lis and fake Augsburg Pyr to circumvent eventual conviscation by the French etc.
Eh, not much for conspiracy theories, and a bit confused by mention of a 'fake lion passant', so can only say there is nothing wrong with the British import marks on this piece (full marks on the bottom, partial on the lid, as typical) - items intended for import to the British market were properly assayed, hallmarked as sterling silver, and bore the mark of the registered importer. ~Cheryl
at certain times it would be better to know something about European history. the Calvinist immigrants where granted tax-free status by the ruler of Hanau and even given a newly built quarter plus religious liberty. as they were highly regarded silversmiths they brought taxes to the ruler and were allowed to mark themselfes etc. pp.
In the same spirit as your post: "At certain times, it would be better" to recognize hallmarks and that Hanau silver was imported to England, where it was assayed and hallmarked. The theory that a "fake lion passant afterwards legalized and restamped with the F for foreign by an English Calvinist brother" is extremely unlikely and hardly worth the legal ramifications - there is no "fake lion passant" or any reason to doubt the marks. ~Cheryl
Hanau was indeed a free-trade town which hosted Dutch and French (Huguenot) Calvinist silver/goldsmiths. They came long before this gorgeous little fan box was made. 19th century and ca 1900 Hanau fake historic marks were in keeping with the style of the silverware to make it convincing. So historic French marks were used on French style silver, historic Dutch marks on the Dutch style etc. The style of this box is German Historic Revival (German costumes, hats especially), so fake UK marks wouldn't make sense. The import marks on the box are not historic marks, but regular 1900 marks, so not intended to be historic fakes. My conclusion regarding the import marks: 1900 UK marks, by a 1900 assayer and a 1900 mark for a UK importer.
I would like to add, in my experience Cheryl has an excellent knowledge of European silver and its historical and cultural background. Knowledge is not restricted to one's own geographical region. If one chooses to restrict oneself to knowledge of one's own region, one is free to do so, of course. But it isn't a requirement of knowledge as such, and many people research subjects outside their place of birth. In short, there is no such thing as the 19th century concept (revived in very dark times!) of 'Blut und Boden' when it comes to knowledge.
