Posted 12 years ago
stevedeal001
(7 items)
My antiques dealer had some severe words to say about this piece.. besides it's beautiful. He said it wasn't silver( it is) was chemically oxidized ( it isn't) and the stamp doesn't match the age of the piece(probably true). But it has a stamp and I need help figuring it out.
Please help if you have any clues. It's black from age. Tests 900+.
Thanks in advance !
steve
It's gorgeous, whatever it is and however old it may be! BTW, how large is it?? I tried to read the hallmark/maker's mark, but can't make out anything but what looks to be an EP and maybe a T then another A and what looks like the greek ?. Sorry I can't help you, but hopefully someone will be familiar with it and give you the information you need!
Thanks for showing this great piece.
Thank you for your interest. It is rather large. It weighs 850 grams alone. I agree on the confusion of the marks. I could pull it out and clean just the makers marks to see more info. Might do that and post it. It's wrapped tight(stinks from the tobacco being smoked around it for years).
Appreciate your help!
Steve
That is awesome news! I know Cyprus is known for its filgree work. I am very happy to find out this is Greek NOT Turkish or otherwise...
I have a few nice Greek pieces.. great to know its the same!
Thanks Chinablue and Scandinavia_pieces... for all your help :)
I wonder why they don't date their pieces ? It cant be 100's of years old even with the black color to it.. .925 wasn't always used in Greece..
scandinavian_pieces, I'm glad you caught that! I just posted and hit enter. I didn't bother to check and see that sigma would show up as a question mark! And stevedeal001, I'm glad you and scandinavian_pieces were able to get that cleared up. I just LOVE this piece! I'll be watching to see if you find out any more about it.
Chinablue.. I have sent off an email for appraisal to possibly get it cleaned to brilliant shiny silver again :). I can only wonder what it looks like new.
Scandinavian_pieces.. thanks so much for all the extra effort. I can now provide additional info if/when I get around to selling in a couple of years. 1930-1950 is antique enough for me :). I'd rather it be Greek and MATCH the stamp than Turkish and not make sense. So the stamp looks and is probably authentic.. yeah!
Steve :)
Estate Antiques.. He's a good friend and dealer. He admitted he was wrong. The piece stinks from sitting in tobacco room for years. The stamp did not match what I said it was.. Constantinople. It took us here to realize it was Greek and meaning "Hand Made". I appreciate your compliments! Still not sure if I could have it cleaned. He didn't offer to buy it. Once I told him it passed the silver test he stated immediately "Well, the silver test doesn't lie."
Just to note, it is likely the piece was oxidized as the antiques dealer's nose knows best :). Still have not gotten the courage or experience to clean. It stands as a Greek .925 1930-1950 piece "Hand Made". Appreciate all the help in discovering the origin from all.
I just saw this was back in the rotation and I still love it! But I have to confess, it it was mine, I would not have been able to resist shining it up a little. *blush* Good thing it's yours and not mine! *L*
Hi chinablue.. if it was yours it would be beautiful and shiny not black and smelly wrapped 3x so it doesn't stink the house :). Must have been in a cigar house or something. dealer said oxidized. If it is.. oxidation smells !
I am going to practice now with some above scrap pieces at polishing and work myself up to this. probably the most difficult being it thin wired filagree throughout. However, Mr Herman would shoot me if I placed it in a dip :). I'm just not up to the job yet.
ONCE it is polished, I will post an "after".
Thanks for the compliments... I stopped posting here due to hurt ego. I have gained a few more pieces since. My most prized are the zolotas and lalaounis .
Steve
Sorry to hear you stopped posting! I don't know Mr Herman, but I can understand his dislike of dipping! I didn't mean to make you think it NEEDED to be polished. I believe everyone keeps their treasures as they like them. But I wouldn't make it shine like new money. I would just clean it up a bit. On pieces with a lot of texture such as this, I love the way it looks when well cleaned but not really polished. I like the look of the oxidation left in the deeper recesses to add contrast to the design. I personally use a good silver polish, a VERY soft (think baby's toothbrush) brush to LIGHTLY spread, not scrub, the polish here and there. Then a good rinse in clear water and polish with an old flour sack cloth towel. Of course that's my preference for MY things. I'm a collector and a user of my goodies, not a reseller. I'm sure what I do to some of my things would make others gasp! *LOL* I have 100 year old sterling soup spoons rattling loose, banging together in a kitchen drawer with my stainless because we like to use them when we eat soup and I hate to go to the trouble of digging them out of the silver chest when I want them. So, clean or not, polished or not, this piece is gorgeous.. however you keep it and however YOU like it! :-)
Actually oxidized isn't the term, silver doesn't react with oxygen. Its SULFUR, like in flatulence and rotten eggs, thats why it stinks so badly.
Personally, I like tarnished antique sterling. I like being able to see its age and history, its part of the piece. A true antique patina takes decades to develop and it can't be imitated. Though there are some pieces that are extremely tarnished and it looks nice to polish the superficial ridges, to give it contrast. I like this the way it is though.
So true about the sulfur.. the worst I have had to deal with was a mixed batch of sterling and plate that had been bundled with rubber bands and stored for years. EEK! And I agree about the patina of old silver. For my taste, it's just wrong to make it look like it's been chromed. :-)
Lol.. thanks Stillwater and chinablue.. I just got done learning about using the blitz and rouge cloths. I started with some basic bowls to get used to it. They are simply marked.
I spent a lot of time cleaning the standing girl in the candy dish. Hours.. like 5. I'm out of work and in pain so distracting myself. It had a nice patina with plenty of blackened areas especially on the standing girl. This piece is marked but unable to identify. Likely a local Athens maker and no date. So, I have 3 things sparkled. Been doing this all by hand and now pulling out the power tools. Dremel/Craftsman with soft cloth ends. The girl has massive blackened areas so I plan to clean the whole thing. As for this piece, I will follow words and do a surface clean. Yes, it stinks :).. so sulfur ! Enough off to kill the smell. I have a new Zolotas piece.. dirty with age and not sure i I will clean it due to its value. I'll keep around. Will post an "after" of the girl candy dish though with pic's tends to the look tarnished anyway :). Thanks all! Steve
Cigarette smoke is also bad, since it contains hydrogen sulphide. Thats the worst I ever encounter, from houses of people who smoked for 50 years. You can't even touch it, it gets on your skin. I've found that silver-plate is worse that sterling for some reason, not all the time, but most often it smells worse.
Stillwater, for sure.. this filigree piece stinks of cigar/tobacco. Wherever it came from it was probably hanging for a long long time. The stink definitely has that nasty tobacoo smell as well. That's why it remains triple wrapped until I clean it. Already got Mr Herman's instructions to clean. Starting off with a Dawn dip.. cleaning then brushing the ick out of it. Hopefully then it can survive on a display without ruining the ambiance of the room it's supposed to brighten :).
Stillwater and chinablue I could use your help in setting a value of a vintage marked piece I posted under show and tell. Please advise if you can! thanks :) Steve