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Over the past month or so, I’ve bought some silver plate at different auctions. One of the lots had a brass cup that has me stumped. I can’t find similar cups with two handles, and I can’t trace its hallmark to anything. It’s probably not a big deal, and I don’t think there is great value in the cup, but, for some reason, it’s driving me crazy.
It is a head in profile, looks Italian like Caesar. I checked the Caesar’s Place logo, but it isn’t the same and the head is looking in the other direction. The mark is in two places; one of the hallmarks came out pretty well in the photos and the other not so much. It also has a number inscribed at the bottom.
Does anyone have any idea?
BTW, I can’t figure out a few of the hallmarks on the silver plate, but I’m cool with that. Just this brass thing is getting me annoyed.
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If the base is somewhat thick (can’t tell from the photo) it could be a small mortar. Might be bronze if it is. The dolphin handles look a bit 19th century (Victorian) and the stamped numbers definitely look modernish. The head looks like a woman’s, like you get on a cameo, with a Roman nose (apparently you can get a rough idea of the age of a cameo from the schnozzle- modern noses are pert!).
As for the dried Brasso- maybe warm water and a toothbrush. Damn stuff has a habit of disappearing when wet and re-appearing later. Think the crusty residue is some kind of silica, not affected by acids or alkalis.
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I’ve seen quite a few small mortars at “brick and mortar” auctions. Some are claimed to be 17th-18th century, and fetch about £300 to £400. If your cup is a mortar, there’s the question of the numbers stamped on the base- they aren’t lined up, and could have been stamped some time after the item was cast. Something about the thin lip and its battered appearance makes me think it’s old, but I’m not sure.
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Well, I just wrote several paragraphs responding to Antique Frog’s suggestions, but lost it all because the system logged me out! Of course, I didn’t save.
To summarize, it’s definitely brass and only 2 1/4″ tall (a little less than 6 cm). It’s not as thick as I would normally expect for a mortar, but, maybe for softer spices, it would work. I think it might be an apothecary type mortar after some searching on eBay.
The thing is, as I was writing all that up, I realized that a dot in the center of the bottom was not the result of metal working. Instead, it was another hallmark! Using my iPhone 7 plus that has an extra zoom camera going up to 10x, I was able to photograph the hallmark:
https://imgur.com/a/KoLaw8aI also used a 10x loop that was better for reading, and the hallmark is “TFRES” with the TF larger than the last three letters. Using that info, I was able to find the link below. The item shown, a coffee pot, is silver, but the photographs show the two hallmarks, the head in profile and the triangle with TFRES. It gives the following explanation of the maker:
The Makers Mark is for TETARD FERES which in sculpted in 1903. It shows a kettle with TFres underneath. TETARD FRERES took over from Edmond Tétard. They were located 4 rue Beranger at the limit of the Marais part of Paris.
I did buy this brass cup with other French silver plated items, such as Christofle. I’ll now need to look up that maker and find more information. I’m sure it still isn’t worth all this time and research, but I will list it higher than I was going to before.
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I thought I posted a long reply to this but it seems not to have gone through.
I wonder if this could actually be vermeil rather than brass. The face hallmark could be a Minerva mark, which was used in France to signify silver. If you look up Tetard Freres, they did quite a bit of work in vermeil. It’s definitely worth further research in that direction.
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After Ryanne asked if it could be gold plated, I did a little more research. I found what you did – that Tetard Freres made items from sterling, silver plate, and vermeil. I didn’t find anything in brass. I’m also thinking that the more yellow color of the cup is not quite a brass color. I think that the patina threw me off.
I have a testing kit, but just haven’t had a chance to use it. I’m pretty sure that it is vermeil.
Funny, I felt like it was such a small thing to ask on the forum, but subconsciously, I must have realized that there was something special about it.
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I just learned something new: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver-gilt
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What’s the crud in the eye of the left-hand dolphin? I thought it was dried-up brass polish.
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yeh, there seems to be some crud stuck in little indentations. I was thinking it was oxidation, but maybe you are correct. Normally, brass doesn’t polish well for me, so I wasn’t going to do it. Now I know it is gold plate and has value, I need to polish it up.
I’ll post updated photos or the actual listing when I finish the work on it.
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I cleaned the mortar to remove the crusty residue. I polished it slightly being careful not to damage it or remove much of the patina. I finally got the listing up last night:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183828733325 -
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