What is this? Antique silver visiting card case?

Antique silver visiting card case from England. 1800's. Engraved with lake side scene on one side. Other side initals MJB. Does anyone know anything else about it.

 

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I think this is a vespa case.

 

What else is to know.....it's a card case....with the owners initials ...
is there a makers stamp ?

 

I cannot find one.

 

Look harder !!

Just kidding !!

sometimes it's on the top rim of the case body.

 

Card case, not Vesta - too thin for one of those.

 

Men In Black initials. LOL

 

A nice case, but the English being very strict about marking on silver, I suspect this is either not silver or not English.

With no markings at all, my money is on "not silver."

 

well....nothing about it screams English to me.

 

Welcome and please do as Bev asks for every photo every time up to 10 per post.

 

Looks like the only engraving on the piece is the initials.

 

Definitely a card-case for calling/business cards. I'd say late Victorian or Edwardian era.

If it is English, then the hallmarks - and there WILL be hallmarks if it's English - should be found punched on the inside rim in a straight line.

If it's not English, any hallmarks there are would be punched somewhere on the body or the lid. Sometimes English marks were also punched on the outside body/lid as well. I've seen that done, too.

 

Why do you identify it as English? To my eye, looks to me like a mid 19th century American coin silver card case - engraved cartouches on engine turned background, and unmarked wouldn't be particularly unusual. With the sailboats and mountains in the background, reminds of some Hudson River scenes...

Here is a somewhat similar card case made by Albert Coles: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.1s...les-coin-silver-calling-card-case/id-j_38443/

By Henry L. Webster: https://www.olympicgoldandjewelry.c...-case-hand-chased-engraved-h-l-webster-1850-s

~Cheryl

 

It doesn't look English to me either, my first thought was North America, especially with that building.

 

The best way to be sure is to look at the marks. If it's American, it'll say 'STERLING SILVER' or a variation thereof. If it's English, it'll have traditional stamped marks.

 

I have actually seen some silver smalls here, definitely British, with Sterling or some variant thereof as a stamp. But I do agree this is probably American.

 

Cheryl's examples are, as usual, spot on for comparison. My coin silver experience is predominantly table ware, so that didn't spring to mind as a possibility.

 

Shangas, there are no marks. If it is American coin silver it will not say 'sterling silver', because coin silver is .900, sterling is .925.
Coin silver was often used for American pre-1870 items. Post 1870 is usually sterling, sometimes coin silver.