Silver piece of jewelry with unrecognized marking

[Eliza Bee]

This piece of jewelry is difficult for me to identify.  My sources don’t recognize the markings.  The gems appear to be glass and the setting is in silver.  https://imgur.com/a/5KJHd8Z

Thanks for the help!!!

[Antique Frog]

Could  be (tentatively) Georg Roth of Hanau, Germany (the centre mark looks like an ‘R’ and the double-headed eagles look German-style with their long tail feathers.)

 

[Eliza Bee]

Thank you Antique Frog.  I will research Georg Roth as a possible maker.  I really don’t know what the piece is – jewelry (it has a pin on the back) or something worn with a purpose (it has what looks like a watch winder hanging on one side.)  It also has a metal loop at the top that would allow it to be suspended from a ribbon or chain.  Since I don’t know what it is (or was) I don’t have a clue as to how to describe it or to ascertain it’s value.  Any thoughts?

[Antique Frog]

Might be a chatelaine (Wikipedia article)

The stones could be garnets rather than glass.

[Eliza Bee]

Thanks Antique Frog – I had the same thought that it could be a chatelaine and the stones could be a semi-precious stone (like garnet) but could also be red glass.  It isn’t too heavy and it dosen’t have a silver mark so I doubt it is sterling (maybe silverplate).  How much do you think it should be listed for??

[Temudgin]

That is a really neat piece and possibly quite old. The marks are characteristic of pre-1920s European metal product hallmarks, signifying things such as town where it was made, whether it was imported, duty or tax paid, assayer’s percentage of silver. There are thousands of such marks as they varied with the time period going back to the 1700’s (and earlier, in England) and objects were made in many different towns. The clasp and construction details are consistent with at least pre-1950s.

Like AF said the pair of outside marks are German-ish but more specifically with the center shield they are strikingly similar to certain Austro-Hungarian firearm proof (firing test) marks from proof houses in Ferlach, Prague, Weipert, and Vienna and some non-firearm military goods from about 1891 to 1928. I call it the “bug” mark; a central shield-shaped body with legs, a tail, and feelers up top out to the side and a head but specifically it is a representation of the coat of arms of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy from 1867 – 1920:

View post on imgur.com

But the problem is that 750 – 1000 silver from Austria-Hungary of that era was marked with different versions of what’s called the “Diana head” and this does not appear to be any type of military item. It is possible that this is a non-silver or low content silver metal hallmark.

I can’t really make out the center mark, is it a “13” or “I3” or “IB” or just an ornate script “B” or what?  A two-digit code was used in Austria to identify assay offices prior to 1922 but I believe they always used block letters. The script style is more like Dutch single-letter date codes from the early 1800’s but they wouldn’t be using the Austro-Hungarian coat of arms from 50 years later.

Good sites are http://www.silvercollection.it and http://www.925-1000.com but they are just a start. Before listing it I would try and get it evaluated from someone like https://antiquesilver.org.

Without having it in my hand it’s hard to judge age. If it feels much newer overall, the hallmarks could just be newer marks imitating old ones. Let us know what you find out.

[Antique Frog]

Hanau silver from the silver collection site.

[Temudgin]

Yup, Hanau would explain it. Pseudo-marks.

[Eliza Bee]

Thanks so much for you input – I’m just beginning to look at some of the recommended sources you gave and I can tell it is not going to be an easy search.

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