Silver teacup & saucer assistance - Pleeeeeeeeeease....

Even though these two pieces have been used together within my living memory, I am not convinced that this cup and saucer belong together as the markings and design themes are very different.

Any hints as the the direction I should go in looking for information regarding the marks would be most appreciated!

Together (intentionally not polished):


Saucer details, marked in the well, not on the bottom:









Cup, marked in side the cup, not on the bottom:

 

I'd say Turkish, but that's all I've got...

 

Yup - both Turkish. The saucer with a Tughra mark from the Ottoman period (pre-1923) and the cup with a more modern mark (Republic period?)

The only reference I could find to ONNIK is an old German eBay listing from which the pictures have been removed. But through the magic of Google archive, you can see them on this link.

https://www.google.com/search?q=onn...=z98TWIKBGejV0gKY8qjgDA#imgrc=tTUIkp8PkEGz6M:

 

You can see a Tughra example under Turkey on this page.

http://www.925-1000.com/foreign_marks3.html

 

While following the above "Turkish" lead, I stumbled across the site below. I can not make heads nor tails of any of it, but do you think it relates to the mark on the saucer???

http://hallmarkwiki.com/?country=egypt


Whoops! Posted this before I saw the previous reply!

 

No - those are Egyptian marks. And that's not what you have.

 

Thank you. In all honesty, it was just the "9" like character that appeared the same -everything else is a blur.....sort of like those long nights in the 1970s.............

Speaking of which (marks, not 70s) is that "9." under the Tughra the 900 purity mark?

 

Yes, I believe so.

 

The only reference I found to Onnik was a french silversmith ? I love this cup madly !

 

Onnik is also a given name, but if this were French it would have French marks, which it doesn't.

 

You guys all rock! And you do it so quickly my head spins! I'm quite grateful.

I love the cup too Johnny, but in all honesty it is a bear to drink out of, and I need the $ so off it will be going as soon as I can find an approximate value.

 

I'd buy it for my small collection of silver teacups (see a very old thread here) if the price were reasonable.

 

Found a lot of Armenians with the surname Onnik. As is common knowledge The Armenian region touches Turkey. The Turks have for quite awhile tried to drive them out with attempts of genocide back in the early 1900s under the Ottoman Empire. Could not find an actual silversmith Onnik. At the last moment before calling it quits, I searched on the key words "Armenian Silver" when low and behold up popped an identical cup! It is marked N? 900, but not with "Onnik."
http://ancientpoint.com/inf/54733-v...n_silver_water_cup_bowl_900_carat_c_1940.html

--- Susan

 

The cup looks like it was made by a professional,the saucer appears to have been chased by a 13 year old beginner in a back alley.

 

Wow! Thanks again for the information and the links! I now have more than just a "starting point" in my research!

 

Here is this cup cleaned up:



The cup is 4" in diameter, not including the handle



The saucer is 4-7/8" in diameter and has a small "tweak" on the edge.


Light scratches in the well of the saucer.


Light scratches on the bottom of the cup



Better view of the "tweak" on the saucer

 

They look nice cleaned up.

 

They do look nice.

Question to throw out there: on searching for this cup, I found quite a bit of Armenian silver out there. Most had no markings on the silver suggesting Armenian made to me. There were Turkish tughars or later Turkish purity marks but no makers' marks. How, why, what made them, the sellers or owners, think/state Armenian? I guess a few of the pieces had engraved pics of Hagia Sophia with crosses or other churches in the Armenian areas that certainly would suggest the Christian Armenians, and possibly a letter or 2 in the Armenian alphabet, but definitely not on all the silver. I did find the mention of some Armenians silversmiths working for the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul.

The Wiki.. article (for what's worth) on Armenians in the Ottoman Empire does say they were goldsmiths to the sultans:
"In the 19th century, various Armenian families became the Sultan's goldsmiths, Sultan's architects and took over the currency reserves and the reserves of gold and silver, including customs duty."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm...#The_Role_of_Armenians_in_the_Ottoman_Economy

Interesting article:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-dep...nt-armenian-silversmiths-turkeys-van-73168605

One of my nieces is married to a 2nd generation Armenian. His grandparents on both sides immigrated to America from the now Republic of Armenia as young children c1915. He knows nothing about his great grandparents, and now his grandparents and his parents are dead - what a lost of family history. One wonders if his great grandparents were killed in the genocide.

--- Susan