Silver spoon? - or maybe not!

Just to take a break from a drill sharpening session today I dug out a manky silvery desert spoon that came from a boot sale last year. I gave it a taste of my Solvol Autosol and here it is.

I don't think it is solid silver but that does not matter as what I would like to know is if anyone recognizes the hunting horn / arrow crest. This shape of horn is / was used by the German postal service and the single "D" that appears on the "assay" mark could indicate Deutchland.....could it?

Rik

is it the correct size for pint mugs of T.....lol

Not English hallmarks as far as I can tell.

Manufacturer is E & Co which is repeated in the pseudo Hall mark and the shield with the crown. 1A may relate to the silver plating. The D is probably just a mock date letter.

Quite a lot of cutlery firms used to mimic hallmarks on their white metal services to make it look more expensive.

EPNS was often written in old English script to copy hall marking.

One of my favourites was B4ANY as in before any.

I'd say it was a plated spoon rather than silver or stainless steel.

Mick

Further to Mick’s analysis ... This should help with identification/dating

**LINK** : http://www.silvercollection.it/Elkington.html

MichaelG.

Could be silver, the markings read IA B & Co D. The crown would link it to Sheffield.

Great link Michael having worked for Elkington in the early 60's it's good to still find info

H

Michael, I didnt look in any of my reference books but if I had Eckington woukd have leapt out.

The date letter doesn't look like any in the listing, but as it says in the text, marking plate was nowhere near as rigorous as solid silver so errors and spurious marks could creep in.

The engraving on the handle could be a version of the light infantry badge? But its reversed and not identical. Might just be a family crest.

Nice spoon all in all and a bit of history in metalworking from silver to old sheffield plate to electroplated.

Mick

Look like a Light Infantry crest to me - possibly a Mess spoon?

Regards,

IanT

Agreed ... Thanks for get us pointed in the right direction

Elkington products are historically important in their own right.

MichaelG.

The hunting horn is a popular image in family crests, especially for folk named Hunt or Hunter.

The arrow above the horn seems to discount the LI or the RAF Royal squadron.

Mick