Featured It's time again for "let's play a game"!

Since we have no way of independently knowing the date when these candleholders were made, we can only look at the date ranges when the various marks were used.

What do you consider to be "modern?"

I don't know of a source more recent than the 1988 date.

 

I just want to know what these marks mean, aside from silver content. If I had a clue, I would have followed it to the end of the earth; but I really am so ignorant I haven’t a clue. I don’t know where they are from. I don’t know who uses them.

 

My reasoning for #3 was similar to others. I found several identical or nearly identical pieces, made in Spain, that were listed as silver and fetched prices well over the price Mr. Nate gave. I searched for dolphins, because I recognized the style of fish as the same as those on my dad's gold US Navy "dolphins" he earned while serving on submarines.

 

The 915 is likely an additional fineness indicator in addition to the pentagram (since .915 was the standard used in Spain earlier in the 20th century) It may have been included on the candleholders to reassure foreign buyers, but that is just speculation on my part. The little mark at the bottom appears to be upside down 2I. It isn't part of the official array of marks as far as I know. Possibly something added by the maker, like a design number.

 

I just finally saw this thread. Saw probable silver right off - those seams were an alarm bell. The ones cast in one piece are always plated or weighted. The seams said they were cast in two pieces, and those Renaissance dolphins have been turning up on French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese items etc since the Renaissance. The hallmarks said Spanish once they were shown, and no mistake.

 

#3

 

Like the others, I found the ones from Spain. Was thrown off at first when I found these modern plated ones. Note the difference in the candle cups.



Small Silver Plate Dolphin Candlestick » Kode-Store.co.uk

Their designation: "This design was inspired by George John Vulliamy and although it is widely described as a dolphin, it is actually a Sturgeon", was not helpful at all in tracking them down. I could not find any verification of a similar design by George John Vulliamy, nor such a critter designated as a sturgeon.

 

That's because everyone calls them dolphins. And you'll notice, no seam lines on that sturgeon. It was cast in one piece and then plated.

 

I saw the seams and wondered about those. Regarding the country I was only 10,000 km off, that’s close enough isn’t it?
In my defence, it was pure guess work (and I admit total cluelessness) as I didn’t search them up.

 

Sorry for the delay, I did promise to provide additional details. So for this particular gamble, the seller was listing a lot of different silver items, perhaps a dozen different individual listings with varying prices.

So I absolutely knew that I would purchase the candlestick holders, and I wanted to pick other items that I thought had the highest potential to be real. I ended up choosing 4 total listings, and with shipping I paid a little over $100. I was wrong on one of the purchases, but right on the other three, so here's what I got:

 

You forgot about me. I was the very first to answer you and my answer was #3… simply because I had easily found the listing for the identical candlesticks made in Spain when I googled the words: silver dolphin candlesticks.

 

Sorry @bluumz I didnt mean to skip over you. I knew you 100% had the right answer and you also first to tell me in a private message. I wanted to build suspense before giving away the farm

 

nice find N8....

now......about the one u got wrong..............

we can learn from that too....

 

Absolutely happy to add the one I got wrong. Admittedly, in hindsight (always 20/20 afterwards) this one was a long shot but I think the added cost was $15 for this piece:

 

I've never seen one of those Revere-style bowls that was real yet, but there must be some solid sterling ones. This one would have had me looking too.

 

I have one somewhere, came from my parents. I think it has an enameled interior, is it still considered Revere-style? I can dig it out and take a picture if anyone is interested

 

It's the shape. I've seen them with plastic liners too. The enamel would be a far better grade of bowl than the usual.