Old Ladle

[Alan Payne]

Was wondering if anyone could identify these maker marks? Thanks for your help and interest.

 

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[bradyboy]

can we see the rest of it?
brady

 

[Alan Payne]

I’m sorry sure

 

[Shakakka]

The JMB stands for John Millward Banks. Firm established in 1863 in Birmingham with manufacturing premises at 6 Northampton Street, Birmingham and Showroom at 12, 14 Beake Street, Regent Street, London. In 1900 c. the firm name was changed to J.M. Banks & Co. The business was closed in 1926 c.

The anchor means Birmingham:



That particular "A" might be 1908:



OR... that cross-looking thing might mean 1886 (as seen in the above image, plus this one):



That's about all I can tell after 10 minutes on the internet.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

If I'm not mistaken, this cutlery design is called 'Fiddleback', Sears calls it 'Tipped Pattern'. The fiddleback design was a popular style during the Georgian Period.

"Around 1810 the shapes of American silver were simpler and echoed designs of the 18th century: the fiddle back, the pointed end or the squared-off coffin end. In the 1820's a threaded edge was added to the fiddle pattern. Then came the design deluge: raised moldings, beads, piercings, scrolls and shells. America's first raised flower-and-foliage design, Repousse, was introduced by Samuel Kirk in Baltimore in 1828."

Here a pic of a page from my 1908 Sears, Roebuck Co. catalogue where they're being offered for sale.
Dave

 

[Red-Coat]

The JMB stands for John Millward Banks. Firm established in 1863 in Birmingham with manufacturing premises at 6 Northampton Street, Birmingham and Showroom at 12, 14 Beake Street, Regent Street, London. In 1900 c. the firm name was changed to J.M. Banks & Co. The business was closed in 1926 c.

The anchor means Birmingham:

View attachment 1935658

That particular "A" might be 1908:

View attachment 1935659

OR... that cross-looking thing might mean 1886 (as seen in the above image, plus this one):

View attachment 1935660

That's about all I can tell after 10 minutes on the internet.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with your conclusions from “10 minutes on the internet”, which pulls together completely unrelated pieces of information.

The dates and location for John Millward Banks are correct, but there’s no record of him having registered “JM over B in a shield”. His known marks have the initials in a row within a cartouche with chamfered corners, and with stops between the initials:



An “anchor” mark only reliably indicates “Birmingham” (England) when it’s part of our mandatory hallmark set on silver, which this is not. There’s no sterling mark on this piece. Elsewhere, it had wide use on pieces which may or may not be from Birmingham and was widely copied as a “pseudo-hallmark”, including on non-silver American flatware.

The second and third pictures have no relevance to John Millward Banks, nor any other English maker, whether in Birmingham or not. Both pictures show date codes used by Gorham in America (Providence, Rhode Island). Those codes were not used in England, nor by other American makers. They’re unique to Gorham. The date “letter” you have suggested might be for 1908 is not a letter A, but a pair of compasses (the Gorham mark, not the one on the ladle). The cross-like mark on the ladle has only a passing resemblance to that used by Gorham.

Although Gorham were one of many American makers that borrowed the Birmingham anchor as part of a pseudo-hallmark set, the marks on the ladle are in any case not for Gorham.

Having said that, I don’t actually know who the maker might be. There are still dozens of smaller makers on both sides of the pond whose marks are poorly documented. The pattern doesn’t help much. It’s a generic tipped “fiddleback” with fins on the shoulders which didn’t appear in England until about 1800 and then about 10 years later in America. I suspect it’s non-silver “nickel-silver” which was in use “as-is” in England from about 1832 and then electro-plated from about 1840 (for America, add on a year or so).

 

[Alan Payne]

You guys are amazing, I know that American makers copied the likeness of British hallmarks. One thing to consider, I have found numerous second Seminole Indian war artifacts at this site. My follow up question is could this be from the 1837 time period of second Seminole war in Florida? Thank you all so much for your knowledge and excitement. It is much appreciated.

 

[Red-Coat]

Hi Alan

Without knowing the maker, I'd put it somewhere around 1820ish onwards. As Dave says, the pattern began to acquire embellishments during the 1820s but that's not to say the original pattern was discontinued. Some makers still produce it today. Certainly one would expect a piece of flatware to have a number of years of use after its production, so it could well have been in use in 1837. It doesn't look to be electro-plate but, if it were, it would have to be after 1840.