Featured Miniature silver stand, bird or flower 925 mark?

I thought this was Portuguese eagle until I got it home and enlarged a photo of the mark, now I don't know. Looks like a bird or flower with an "A" to the left and 925 underneath. The smaller mark above it I can't make out even with strong loupe.The piece measures 1-3/4" tall and 3-1/2" in diameter.

 

it's lovely !!

 

My goodness, that's tiny!

Seeing what you saw, Anund, I would have thought Portugal as well, although checking out both the pre-1938 and post-1938 marks on 925-1000 hasn't revealed a match. I also tried searching their Forums without finding anything useful.

 

I wonder if thats a bonbonniere ?

 

Thanks for looking Susan, it's one of those that looks so familiar to me, just can't place it.

 

Not sure johnny, after looking at it awhile I thought tea ball holder but I don't know.

 

Have you tried a Q-tip with silver polish in this area to see if anything will stand out

 

I'll do that, I'm also going to go over to my dads and see if his hi-def camera will get a better zoom & focus on it.

 

It is gorgeous, anund.
Portugal, Hungary and Yugoslavia had eagle/bird marks which look a bit like that, but so did several towns dotted around Europe.
The small mark looks like a bull's or horse's head facing right. Yugoslavian horse for imported silver 1919-1933, maybe?
The flying bird was introduced in Yugoslavia in 1933, but that bird looks slightly different, and why mark twice in a short period of time?
The letter could be an A or a Д, which is the Cyrillic D. Several eastern European languages use Cyrillic script.

 

Thank you Any Jewelry.
I think I have a better picture of the marks, they're so small I had to use a toothpick and tissue to clean the mark. Bottom left of the smaller mark is an "I" or an "H" depending on orientation of the mark, the shadow of the cartouche is blocking the bottom of it.

 

Beautiful bird, I've seen it before, but where.
Maybe this helps:


The small mark looks Arabic now:


Or maybe this way?

 

At least we know it's a bird in the larger punch.

 

And it is about to land, maybe the KLM Airlines swan?

 

Suspect it's the stand for a small Holy Ghost Crown. Can't make out the maker's mark, and don't know what the 'A' indicates, but it's a Portuguese (Porto assay office) 'large article' mark from 1985-98 - the link below shows an optimistically 'antique' Portuguese inkstand with the silver mount bearing the same mark, including the 'A'...

http://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com/2012/10/antique-regal-art-nouveau-inkwell-set.html



~Cheryl

 

Here's a Holy Ghost Crown and stand of a similar size, the seller was a bit off on dating, the mark indicates Porto assay, 1938-84 (can't tell if it's the same maker's mark):

https://www.rubylane.com/item/61838-707339x20RL1093/Antique-833-Silver-Crown-Stand-c

~Cheryl

 

Thank you Cheryl! Funny that with your help we landed back at Portugal! And thanks for the insight as to purpose, I don't think I would have figured that out.

 

Called a porta confeitos in Portugese. Isn't that a charming name?

Debora

 

Great research Cheryl.
I think the Portuguese should have told us when they turned the eagle into a crane.

A porta confeitos is for confectionary, which the Portuguese are very good at. A bit like a bonbon dish, but for candied orange thingies oozing with honey, small, very sweet cakes with orange icing, other orange-based candy.
Plan a visit to your dentist after you've been to Portugal.