Featured Footed silver bowl marked VINCENT SILVERSMITH WEYMOUTH

Hi all

Heaviest piece of silver I've bought in a while, just £4.50 for 372 grams. Unusual that it doesn't have a Hallmark, just marked VINCENT SILVERSMITH WEYMOUTH. Tests as Sterling.

I assumed that is referring to Weymouth in USA as it doesn't have a full set of hallmarks, but I found this bowl with a similar mark for London, though no pics of the Hallmark.
https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...0015/lot-3f95ea0b-0364-4110-8514-a451013a637b

I'm mostly just showing off but if you have any more information please share.

 

Even if American, I'd expect a sterling bowl to be marked as such, it is not old enough to date back to the coin silver period.
The surface may test as silver if it is silverplate as I am sure it is.

A useful fruit bowl but not all that valuable. £4.50 sounds cheap enough by all means for a decent looking bowl.

 

It's silver, I scratched away an area on the base of the foot and tested it

 

it looks silver...but that folded over rim bothers me.

 

You could use some source like Kelly's street directory to see if there was a silversmith in Weymouth, Dorset, in the 1920s.
It cannot be said that it is impossible to sell unhallmarked silver in Britain, provided you call it white metal, but why would a retailer do this? What silver test did you use, remember the silver around the scratch will still give a silver result whereas underlying coppernickel alloy may not react all.
Find someone with an XRF tester and get a definitive check. I'd regard this as plated till proven otherwise.

 

Hi,
I hate to hear of scratching away at the bottom to test for silver. I have had so many beautiful pieces of silverplate ruined by multiple scratching.
greg

 

@gregsglass Please don't be too alarmed, there was a small dint at the bottom of the foot. I scratched it to make sure the metal below was revealed, put a drop of acid on there and it came up as Sterling.

 

I’m not saying this applies to Ratsy’s dish...
Just a question about English silver.
If it is weighted, is it required to be marked weighted, just curious.

 

I think most pieces I have seen were marked 'loaded' but some common items are never so marked, such as small candlesticks. There may be no fixed rules, or they are very obscure.
Thinking of things that I have and how they are marked, I suspect it may be that if it is not apparent that it is loaded, for example if the base is covered in a silver sheet, it should be marked as weighted or loaded. If it is possible to see that it is not all silver it should be OK to leave it with normal markings. The buyer is then presumed to need no special advising.

 

Thank you for the explanation.

 

I have also seen the term FILLED used on modern weighted English silver

 

Thank you, Ratsy !
And you found a lovely bowl.

 

now that's a store front window !!!!

 

An interesting article to add to the discussion:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/an-end-to-the-silver-standard-1314489.html