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French silver made for export carries an assay mark in the shape of the head of Mercury, along with a number to indicate the millesimal fineness: "1" for .920, "2" for .840 and "3" for .750. French silver also is punched with the mark of the maker, by law in the shape of a lozenge, usually with the maker's initials and a symbol.
Hallmarks are often confused with "trademarks" or "maker's marks". A hallmark is not the mark of a manufacturer to distinguish their products from other manufacturers' products: that is the function of trademarks or makers' marks. To be a true hallmark, it must be the guarantee of an independent body or authority that the contents are as marked.
Inscribing marks on the manufactured items was likely a precursor of communicative writing. [4] Historically, the marks were used for few purposes: [5] declaration of the ownership (an ownership mark, for example, livestock branding [6]); identification of the manufacturer and place of origin (manufacturer's mark, maker's mark, later a factory ...
Initially, hallmarks consisted of the goldsmiths' proper mark which was the maker's mark originally used to identify the silversmith or goldsmith responsible for making the article. The fineness mark, the crowned harp, was applied to 22 carat gold and sterling silver, which was silver of a standard of 925 parts of fine silver in each 1,000.
The four wardens of the Goldsmiths’ Company were tasked with visiting workshops in the City of London to assay (test) silver articles. If these articles were found to be below standard they were originally forfeit to the king, but if they passed, each article received the king's mark of authentication which was the mark of a leopard's head.
Silver Candlesticks by Paul de Lamerie. Hallmarked London, circa 1747-49 Lamerie's maker's mark for 1732 on the underside of a Britannia gauge waiter Soup tureen with the crest of Trinity College. In August 1703, de Lamerie became the apprentice to a London goldsmith of Huguenot origin, Pierre Platel (1659–1739).
Timothy Tuttle formed the Tuttle Silver Company in 1890, in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.. His first work was to duplicate sterling pieces by special order. And because the pieces he duplicated were generally English sterling pieces, the original Tuttle pieces are dated in the English custom, with the crest of the reigning monarch of the times, to indicate the time period.
From about 1840 to 1940 in the United States and Europe, sterling silver cutlery (US: 'flatware') became de rigueur when setting a proper table. There was a marked increase in the number of silver companies that emerged during that period. The height of the silver craze was during the 50-year period from 1870 to 1920.