Handmade copper and brass serving utensils - mystery mark

Hello all!

I picked these up several years ago and still haven't been able to identify who crafted them even though they have a clear copyrighted mark on them. Hammered copper with brass handles ... approx. 10" and 11" (25cm and 28cm), in length.




Hoping that someone here may recognize the work or the mark.

To me it looks like a scroll-y uppercase C and L or maybe uppercase C and lowercase h. What do you see?

Is there any way to search copyrighted marks?

The pieces are similar to the work of Ben Caldwell but both the handles and marks are too different to be his.

 

Oh ... I forgot to post that I have searched for similar items once or twice a year and have only found these (online) so far ... all also without any attribution to a specific metalsmith.

Also forgot to mention that I don't think that these are all that old either ...

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/d...d-brass-sculptural-serving-fork/id-f_1767853/


http://www.antiqueoyster.com/Produc...Hand-Crafted-Serving-Art-Nouveau&ProductID=50


https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/d...brass-sculptural-serving-pieces/id-f_3919712/

 

Beautiful, quirky.

 

Agreed^^ Lovely indeed.

 

interesting.........if not Quirky !!! Heehe!!!
& the others do look like they come from the same place !

 

The thing is, a "mark" is more the TM or R (trademark pending or registered trademark) territory... not copyright which is really for works of art, literature, etc... so... you can search the copyright database here https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First -- but I wouldn't expect much.

 

Thanks for that link Jivvy
Not sure that I'm searching their database correctly ... it's feast or famine with the results - either none or WAY too many! Plus, even if I happened upon the correct combination of search words, I doubt that I'd know if the search was successful without photos or illustrations of the items. You were right when you warned not to expect much from it.

 

Hi I know this is a long shot but was your mystery every solved? I just came across a similar set. Thank you.

 

Hi there @Catparkhi Any chance you can show photos of the ones you found here?
The maker of mine remain a mystery. I had kind of forgotten about them, so I thank you for reminding me to search for others online once again. Found another with the same mystery mark .... https://www.etsy.com/listing/1234006612/hand-wrought-brass-cake-or-pie-server
Also, (semi-related) on one of my shopping trips I found a similar looking piece with a different mark. Naturally, had to buy it Will try to find some photos of this new mystery utensil.

 

I see CR fwiw.

 

Sure, why not? Looks about as much a squished artistic "R" as an "L" or an "h". I appreciate your interpretation of the mark ... gives me another direction to look into.

 

This is the latest addition to my lot of vine handled serving pieces. It bears a different mystery maker's mark than the first two.

 

Yes! Two have the initials and two have the bear.