Is this an Ottoman Tughra Mark?

I've been thinking about buying this item, but I can't tell if it's a genuine Tughra mark or a maker's mark? What do you think? Is it normal for these marks to be embossed rather than engraved?

Thank you for your help!

 

Whole thing, please?

 

it looks like a tughra mark to me.They were never engraved, but punched. On jewellery most are really tiny.
And yes, I would love to see the whole thing, tughra marks were used in a fairly large part of the world.

 

Sure thing. I'm getting ready for bed now, but I'll get you a pic later. My main concern is the reddish-brown tone on the edges of some of the panels, which looks like plating loss to me...

 

I'm hoping that the reddish-brown areas are just tarnish or tarnish+gilt, instead of plating loss. I have a feeling that, on the buckle, plating loss would have also affected the niello.

 

Gorgeous, Barn. It is a classic Qyamar, a woman's belt, probably Armenian. It dates from the Ottoman period.
Part of Armenia is Turkish, and Armenian silversmiths were famed throughout the Ottoman empire.
I'll see if I can find the tughra for the period, but the devil is in the detail with those Ottoman tughras, and this one doesn't have much detail.

 

No, not enough detail. Just wondering, Barn, is the photo of the tughra a mirror image? It should be the other way around.

 

Thank you so much, AJ. It arrived in the mail today. I tested it for silver content, and it tests around 800-900; the red isn't dark enough for sterling, I think. I'll post better pictures of the mark later; each panel except for the buckle has the Tughra mark and a zig-zag assay testing mark.

 

Here are some more pictures, AJ.

 

Me likey.....u wise ol' Owl !!!!

 

I paid a bit more than I would have liked, but I'm glad the risk paid off! Depending on whether it's 800 or 900 silver, I paid about 25-30% over melt value.

 

I think the content is less important than the workmanship and the item as a whole....!!
Like..... yer not gonna melt it.....R Ya ???

 

Just the thought of melting it fills me with visceral horror, haha. For some reason though, I get caught up in melt value when I'm buying.

 

I get that !!!
Just keep in mind the art work...as many silver and gold items just can't be valued in terms of their metals.



melt value will never be in play on this item.......

 

That's a gorgeous bracelet! I'd love to hear more about it.

 

It is gorgeous, barn. And yes, the tughra photo was reversed, on your pics it is the right way around.
You can tell the sultan's name of the period by the specific little squiggles around and in between the main tughra lines. That is why they are so difficult to read.

And the age and collectabillity too.

The thought of it!

 

Zombie (or C19) apocalypse when you’re trading it to a hill person for a rotten apple it’s going to matter! No matter how nice something is I always like knowing the melt value too. The you know what you can get back out of it in an absolute worst case scenario. That’s assuming spot isn’t drastically declined at that point in time. With some things it will obviously never come into play unless that apocalypse or crack habit pops up. Nice bracelet and belt ladies!

 

dogfish design, by Charles Edenshaw .. museum item

 

Zombie (or C19) apocalypse when you’re trading it to a hill person for a rotten apple
Ya...I get that......
but in such an event ..... silver will likely have fallen to $1 at ton, and the Hill People will still have great respect for the dogfish Crest so this item will retain a value of 5 fresh apples !!!

 

Hahaha! I hope you’re right for your sake!!! During this crisis the spot price of silver has fallen but the demand for physical silver bullion has gone through the roof (relatively speaking) bullion is trading at around $5 over its spot value currently. Mines are shut down right now, as are processing facilities I would imagine. Interesting how it’s going and the first time I’ve seen this in my short time monitoring silver.