Egyptian Hallmarks before 1916

Good Day All

According to one source I have seen, Egypt only commenced hallmarking in 1916. Can anyone confirm this information?

Thank you.

 

The only hallmarking law in Egypt that I have seen references to began in 1906, not 1916. I do not know whether there was simply no official regulation before then or whether the 1906 law replaced some previous one, though.

 

Your both right, the act dates from 1906, it was enforced in 1916.
During the Ottoman period there were Ottoman marks, those were probably also in use during the Khedivate period, 1867-1914. During that period Egypt was an autonomous state in the Ottoman empire, but had to pay tribute to the Ottomans.

 

I once stumbled into a preview of a book otherwise under copyright that gave some history of Egyptian hallmarking practices. Of course, have never been able to find it again. Did take away that Egypt was marking items long before the British got hold of them & regularized it into a consistent system. Are you trying to date a particular piece?

 

Thank you, this is interesting.

The reason for my query is that I have some items that look to me to be silver (insofar as one can tell) and they came from someone who knew the difference between silver and plate (she and her husband were collectors) and she always referred to them as silver. But I can find no marks on them. She was in Egypt both before and after the First World War so I was very interested to read somewhere that pre-1916 stuff was not marked.

But if I understand your reply correctly you are saying it was marked prior to 1916 but with Ottoman marks, even during the Khedivate period. Since this is quite crucial to my issue I wonder if you would mind clarifying, and if you could indicate your level of certainty (you say the Ottoman marks were "probably" also in use during the Khedive period, which is the crucial period for my items).

Thank you again for your input.

 

The reason for my query is that I have some items that look to me to be silver (insofar as one can tell) and they came from someone who knew the difference between silver and plate (she and her husband were collectors) and she always referred to them as silver. But I can find no marks on them. She was in Egypt both before and after the First World War so I was very interested to read somewhere that pre-1916 stuff was not marked.

At some stage I may post photos of the items but at the moment I am sorting through quite a lot of stuff and making progress bit by bit. Or not, as the case may be

 

My knowledge is far from exhaustive, but, such as it is, I have never seen anything made in Egypt that was silver plate, only the occasional item that was gold plate over silver.

 

Am I right in thinking your silver mark query is now solved in this thread:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/possibly-egyptian-or-sudanese-lidded-jar.23699/#post-318001

 

No, not right. That item was marked whereas this thread relates to the possibility of Egyptian silver being unmarked. I have a number of items that are Egyptian, several of which have no marks, that I may ask about over time. I wouldn't want to flood the forum with them all at once and besides it takes time to photograph, etc.

 

Oh, right. I thought it was about the possibility of Egyptian hallmarking before 1916 and/or the introduction of Egyptian hallmarking. Those were the questions I saw and answered, others answered as well.
But if the question is about the possibility of Egyptian silver being unmarked, yes, Egyptian silver of any period can be unmarked, depending on the circumstances of the maker or the time.

Take your time, we'll be here. Many of us love to see Egyptian silver, nice silver from anywhere, really.

 

I have some Egyptian items - the ornamental bases of hubbly bubbly pipes - that are undoubtedly plated, because the plate has now almost completely worn off. It's a pity because they adapted well as attractive candlesticks.

 

Thank you for clarifying. I am sorry my original query was insufficiently detailed and therefore confusing.

I'm loving this site and wish I had discovered it a long time ago.

 

I'd like to add a little information that I have found recently in an interesting article on Egyptian hallmarking by Azza Fahmy entitled 'An everlasting lustre: A thousand years of monitoring Egypts jewellery industry'.

She states that in the modern period (my term, not hers) three laws were passed regarding hallmarking in Egypt, viz:

1. In 1847 a law known as the Gashanjy Law was passed during the reign of Khedive Abbas I. This regulated the standards of gold and silver, and indicated how metals should be marked. It appears, however, that it did not make marking compulsory.

2. In the reign of Khedive Abbas Helmy II (1892-1914) a second law was passed that regulated the hallmarking process, and stipulated standards in gold and silver. The silver standards were, respectively, 90/80/60/45. Unfortunately, she does not give the actual year in which the act was enacted and brought into force.

3. In the reign of Sultan Hussein Kamel (1914-1917) a third law was passed 'which prohibited the buying and selling of any precious metals that were not stamped by the Egyptian assay office'. Hence it seems that it is only from the time of the third law that marking became compulsory. Unfortunately, she does not state the actual year in which this law was enacted and brought into force. Possibly it was 1916, since one of the earlier comments (above) indicates that pre-1916 Egyptian silver was not marked. She also mentions that after a time the 45 standard was abolished.

 

Thanks silver, that is very useful information. Do you have a link?

 

Found it :

https://rawi-magazine.com/articles/everlasting_lustre/