Featured Mysterious Marks on Teaspoon

An online friend and fellow collector has asked me to help her find out information about a silver teaspoon that belongs to a friend of hers. Neither of them know anything about it. They suspect colonial Australia, but so far as I know, Australia has never had any formal hallmarking system, so...? um...yeah.

My friend found out a bit of general information on Australian colonial silver, but...that's about it.

Photos:

 

The lion certainly suggests a British link.
I cropped and edited the marks a bit, but @Aquitaine is much better at that.

 

Levi and Salaman maker's mark. So the one next to the lion may be a very badly struck anchor. God knows what the date letter is.

 

I do love the way you put things, Owned!

 

Well, first the Levi & Salaman marks all have a much larger ampersand than the tiny one on Shangas' spoon. Second, what I see next to the lion looks more like a crowned leopard on its side than even the most mangled anchor. When I first looked I thought it might be a representation of a comet. Third, clueless on what looks like a 7 to me and can't make it into any kind of letter.

All that adds up to - no idea here. Has it been tested for silver content?

 

The marks don't look quite right for British, more like the pseudo-marks used by 19th century Australian smiths (the third mark looks like a kangaroo to me) - you might try contacting the Silver Society of Australia, and my quick look didn't find it, but you can also check here: http://www.silvercollection.it/AUSTRALIASILVERSMITHSNOT.html

~Cheryl

 

Actually, the mark next to the lion, to ME, looks pretty much like a shamrock or clover leaf.........two takes: someone else might see differently....hope it helps.... oh, and to me third mark does look like either a standing kangaroo, or a fish....take your pick!!! Might be leaning towards kangaroo...looks to be two tiny paws up there.....

 

I agree - looks like a kangaroo!

 

Oho. I think it's Roo Too! Well done.

 

I always seems to confuse fish and kangaroos... Odd, that.

 

They both have tails and jump; it's easily done. Odds are that spoon is Aussie all the way through, and if so is worth more than any British one would be since there can't be as many about.

 

Thanks everyone. So, Australian colonial silver, but can't figure out anything else?

 

Hi there, just found this. It is a nice piece of Colonial Australian silver. The maker is currently unidentified but is thought to be Lellman and Schomburgk from Adelaide. Dating it around 1855-1860.
I love it!

 

Hi Aussiesilverguy!

Welcome to Antiquers............

 

Welcome, Aussiesilverguy. Thanks for replying, great info.

 

@Aussiesilverguy , welcome to Antiquers!

 

WELCOME Aussiesilverguy !!! ... Joy.

 

The first square in the hallmark is actually a sheep disguised as a Brit lion.

 

Yes, classic Merino, introduced in Oz by MacArthur in the early 1800s.


With long tails, like on the mark: