all these silver marks confuse me!! London Sterling?

This reply will not be in the least helpful for identification.. however, when I studied silver in my graduate program at the Smithsonian, my silver professor Jennifer Goldsborough right off the bat told us to simply ignore any marks on a piece. Chances are they were either forged or made up by some rogue silversmith outside the confines of the silversmiths guild. She taught us to train ourselves to identify style characteristics of individual artists and make our attributions from there.

 

that's a pretty blanket statement to make unless you're talking bout only one specific studio or maker...

 

Sorry, but that professor was daft. Silver assay rules in the UK and many other countries are very very stringent indeed. And what on earth did she mean by a "silversmiths guild"?

 

I agree with Bear. That 'professor' sounds like an idiot. Silver marks are highly regulated. Where the hell did she get her information from!??

EDIT. Found her. This is her:

http://historyarthistory.gmu.edu/people/jgoldsbo

Sorry, but after reading the post at the top of this page, I'd call everything she's ever said or written into question.

 

I have 'Women Silversmiths, 1685-1845', by Glanville and Goldsborough, have read a couple more of her books on silver, as well as one on album quilts, and can't recall any blanket statement like the one mentioned above in any of the silver books, found all to be well written and well researched - perhaps her comments were simply misunderstood or misinterpreted by her former student here...

As for the regulations regarding silver marks, as Bear notes, they are quite strict in some countries, less so in some others, and often virtually non-existent or unenforced in others, and sometimes the stringency varies according to the era. Even with strict hallmarking regulation, forgeries and fakes exist, and the style and/or construction of a piece can rule out the supposed maker or age. Just as an example, the usually high-priced 'old' Russian silver, which was strictly regulated, is an area with endless forgeries and fakes, some are newer pieces produced in the last several decades, sometimes old silver from other countries with the original marks erased and replaced with spurious Russian marks - the marks are often just ludicrous, but others are quite convincing, the authenticity of a piece is determined by several factors.

~Cheryl

 

thanks everyone!