Burwoodhall

Thank you. They are very worn. I will take more pics and try cropping and adjusting the temperature/lighting to see if I can get better clues. It was very interesting reading the comments and I really do appreciate your scholarship. Please forgive me if I create a blunder now and then as I learn to navigate your system. If you visit TN come see us, we love antique silver. Regards... Hilda

I am not a silver expert and do not have the expertise to "test" the metal. I have researched everything I could think of and still confused. This has been in my collection for a while and I want to write a blog about it for my "antiques academy". This 7" dish LOOKS and cleans up like sterling. The hallmarks are crazy confusing. It has to me what is described as the 1697-1719 hallmarks of lions head erased, and Britannia...and I can see what might be makers initials of MH on the left side but over on the right side is an impressed double headed eagle. Why? and I don't see a "date letter". According to Chats on Old Silver by EL Lowes c1909, Page 173-74, “During the reign of William and Mary, the hallmarking was changed in order to stop the melting of coins to make silver items. The standard for silver was raised and melting coins was forbidden. The new hallmarks would be the figure of Britannia and a lions head erased “which will be found on all silver between 1697 and 1720”. Silversmiths were ordered to destroy all their old punches, using for the future the new marks and the first two letters of their surnames instead of their initials or other private mark. Each silversmith was to register their name and strike an impression from his punch in Goldsmiths Hall. " The MH could be the last name of the maker, the lions head erased and britannia and appearance of the metal makes me think sterling c1700 but no date letter and the odd double headed eagle mark. Now add one more layer of confusion... a crowned rose and London impression. But I am quite certain this is not pewter. It doesn't look or act like any of my pewter. Was someone trying to avoid paying a tax or duty by stamping the rose? Conversely, Was it legit to use the Britannia and lions head erased on something if it wasn't sterling? What is the story? I am starting a home school program to teach history through the research of antique objects. A "hands on" approach. Antiques Academy is a newly created website at burwoodhallgolfbnb.com My students will hopefully learn more than history, they will acquire a new appreciation for antiques. I recently found another coin silver knife that had been defaced by adding Oregano to the blade. The knife was engraved L T Mallory for the Mallory family of Franklin (Mallory Lane in Cool Springs). Thank you for your assistance.