Featured Antique(?), Silver(?) Fruit Centerpiece

I found this at my local thrift store today. I wouldn't look twice at it (not my style) but another friend/picker who comes to the thrift store early & who buys much more antiques, furniture, etc than I do found one of these yesterday & when the manager said $120 he offered $80 and bought it when the manager agreed to the price.
So when I saw this one today I bought it for the same $80 - did I do good?
It measures 12" L x 8.5" W x 5.5" H
It has MADRID and some other letters + numbers etched into it - and what looks like 925 under those (last photo - nest to Madrid it looks like R3R (or EGR?) -then a triangle? - then 60; the 925 is under the R3R?
is this silver? An antique?
What was the spring for sticking out of it (bottom of 1st photo) for?
Any information on it would be a great help!
Thank you!

 

Horn of Plenty · Cornucopia

 

Tagging silver members @MrNate @Bakersgma

 

Those markings do not match what should be on a piece of Spanish "sterling.

https://www.925-1000.com/foreign_marks6.html

Do note that (although not illustrated) an "importer's mark" would be in a triangle. Your pictures of the marking are not ideal.

That "spring" looks more like a corkscrew than a spring.

 

How about Alessandro Magrino?

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/92370-allessandro-magrino----horn-of-plenty

 

It looks like my E G R - and isn't that a triangle next to it?
I'll try to take better pics of mark

 

That's what it says - not Madrid say_it_slowly you rock!!!
Thank you!

 

That's very handsome.

Debora

 

LOOKS very nice.....but is that copper showing through on the left end where I've circled???

​

 

I looked but didn't see anything?

 

say_it_slowly have you found one as large as mine by Magrino? The largest I've seen is 7" instead of 12" W like mine.
Thank you again!

 

I did find mostly smaller ones, as you say, however this one they say is 62cm so huge if correct.

https://www.bonhams.com/search/?q=m.../q0=magrino&MR0_display=search&m0=0?q=magrino

 

About 16" - at least I know he made bigger ones.
Thank you

 

Or 24"

 

Silver coated?

 

If it says madrid it would suggest spain and none of the markings suggest this would be silver. I can't make out the writing on it myself - i.e. I am not clearly seeing "madrid". I went through all of the silver marks used that are in Miller's Antique Marks and didn't see anything that looks like the marks on this.

 

My first gut reaction was cast aluminum. BWDIK?

 

Thanks for tagging @Bdigger. I don't have any complete conclusions, but I do have my concerns about attribution to Magrino (I'm not claiming it isn't Magrino, just unsure at this point). I think the part that is challenging for me to see initially is comparing your piece to this one, I feel that the quality/details are different. Perhaps it's the photos, perhaps it's that your item isn't polished up, but I feel the contrasting difference in the details of the piece coupled with the very warn marks makes me suspicious of the authenticity. The rest of the piece really doesn't have the same wear and tear, so it's hard to see why the marks would be so worn down. This would be a potential technique someone would use to make a knock-off piece. I hope that I'm not stepping too far on one side, but given the price of the silverplated pieces of this artist, it opens the door for potential forgeries:

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/silver-a...r-400-star-8711-7-1-4-h-x-23-w/a/5326-74058.s

 

This example has marks that look much more authentic than what can be seen on Journey's. We can actually see the proper Italian cartouche with maker's region and registration number.

 

Just saw these (my dad's 92nd birthday today; we've been setting up a surprise dinner with his old friends) - I will try to get clearer photos later. Came here after a message on eBay from a revoracer "looks like a knock off to me - why don't you put that in your description"
FYI if revoracer is from here - if it's a knock off I won't even sell it - I don't have almost 2,000 transactions with a 100% positive feedback because I'm shady
Sorry all - but thanks for letting me vent.
I will try to take clearer photos later after our birthday dinner with my dad