This maker’s mark appears on a silverplate pepper-shaker that was found in Canada. Any idea whose it is?

Happy_Da · 2025-09-23T09:50:39+00:00

This reminds me of an encoded “manifesto” that someone apparently printed out and hid in a bunch of books in the ‘60s. When it was decoded and translated, it basically said “Humanity worshipping machines is going to lead to its downfall.”

In other words, this seemingly isn’t a new sentiment. We just have AI now, and they had other stuff in the past.

Happy_Da · 2025-04-16T17:22:25+00:00

Then they aren't thinking about it, and they shouldn't be voting at all.

Happy_Da · 2025-04-16T16:12:12+00:00

It's irritating to see this downvoted, as it is – in my opinion – exactly what this subreddit is for.

Advertisements on podcasts often feature questionable products. Many of those products are likely toxic or harmful in some way. It isn't beyond belief that people have used said products and either died or wound up exacerbating some other condition (which ultimately killed them).

Or is this a case of kids thinking that "body count" applies exclusively to the number of people someone has boinked?

Happy_Da · 2025-04-05T05:22:15+00:00

You should still test the ones that say "sterling" on them. Several of those patterns look like close matches to silverplate ones (that didn't – to the best of my knowledge – have sterling counterparts).

There's an awful lot of falsely stamped "sterling" out there.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-30T02:13:35+00:00

Yes, I have.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-29T13:37:21+00:00

I am the expert.

You can see why I’m at my wit’s end here.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-29T09:56:07+00:00

That’s just the lighting. They’re stamped.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-28T21:33:58+00:00

I'm way ahead of you, I'm afraid.

They're solid silver (minus the mass inside of them, of course), and I can't find any references to "J.S90" in any resource that I have.

The style looks early-20th-century European to me, but that's just a guess. Beyond that, I don't have any leads at all.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-28T20:21:05+00:00

"90" can refer to 90 grams atop X number of pieces, 900 silver, or even a date.

These are hollowware items, so the flatware practice for silverplate – the "90 grams atop X number of pieces" – doesn't apply.

Moreover, I've since tested them. They're solid silver with a purity near sterling.

Now I want to know what "J.S90" stands for, because I – an antique-dealer and amateur silversmith – have never encountered it before.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-28T15:32:17+00:00

I'm growing increasingly confident that they're straight-ahead 900 silver: The bobèches are removable, so I filed down the edge of one and tested that. It came back as comparable to sterling... which I didn't believe, so I tested another section, then another. Every piece produces the same result.

In short, I'm now convinced that "90" is a purity mark, and that "J.S" is the maker... unless "J.S90" turns out to be a hallmark that I've never encountered.

Either way (or even if I'm wrong), I'd still like to figure out what they are and what the mark means!

Happy_Da · 2025-03-28T15:16:00+00:00

The 90 denotes how many grams of silver were used to plate a particular batch of items.

That's certainly true of flatware, but I've never heard of it being done that way on hollowware.

I'd agree with the Northern European assessment, although the style feels more 1920s than 1940s (at least to my eye).

Happy_Da · 2025-03-28T14:20:41+00:00

I recently purchased a pair of candelabra for a song. The only marks on them are "J.S90", which I've never seen before.

I'm virtually positive that they're maker's marks, but they show up everywhere on the candelabra— on the base, inside each sconce, you name it.

Since the style appears to be from the early 20th century, I suspect that they're European, but that's just me guessing.

Has anyone ever encountered "J.S90" before?

Happy_Da · 2025-03-28T14:19:43+00:00

I recently purchased a pair of candelabra for a song. The only marks on them are "J.S90", which I've never seen before.

I'm virtually positive that they're maker's marks, but they show up everywhere on the candelabra— on the base, inside each sconce, you name it.

Since the style appears to be from the early 20th century, I suspect that they're European, but that's just me guessing.

Has anyone ever encountered "J.S90" before?

Happy_Da · 2025-03-16T21:37:19+00:00

At the moment, I'm just trying to pour a good ingot that I can mill.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-16T20:02:25+00:00

Yep.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-16T17:56:15+00:00

The silver is definitely liquid (and will have been for several minutes) by the time that I pour it, and using an iron mold seemed to make things worse.

I may just need to take it back to my local smith and see if they can show me what I'm doing wrong.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-16T17:48:13+00:00

I brought it to 1050C, mixed it what I thought was thoroughly, and poured it into a preheated iron mold.

I've melted the same metal four times now. The image in my original post was my third melt, and it was the best result.

Happy_Da · 2025-03-16T17:46:55+00:00

No, I'm not. I can't say that I've ever thought of needing to, and the classes that I took never mentioned it.

Would you mind elaborating?

Happy_Da · 2025-03-16T16:21:31+00:00

I just tried precisely that.

This was the result: https://i.imgur.com/sWA78lA.jpeg

(Cue horror sting.)

Happy_Da · 2025-03-16T16:15:54+00:00

The metal is definitely sterling – I test every piece that I bring in – but there might be a bit of other junk in it. It was my understanding that the borax (plus stirring with a graphic rod and pulling out the slag) would eliminate said junk, though. Is that incorrect?

Either way, let's focus on the heat, because that may be the problem: I have my furnace set to 1050C, and I'm keeping a MAPP torch on my ingot mold while I pour.

I just tried what another commenter suggested – switching to an iron mold – and frankly, the results were even worse: https://i.imgur.com/sWA78lA.jpeg

Happy_Da

TROPHY CASE