Posted 12 years ago
Adie
(6 items)
I bought these from an op shop some time ago and have just had them sitting on top of the microwave. I don't know much about these at all.. they have the name STRACHAN on the bottom.
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These are charming! Observe and compare the rise of the foot and the prominence of the toes in each shaker.
Hi, I noticed this myself and thought they were just made in different years maybe? Or do you think one is a copy? I can barely make out what the letters are on the bottom.
Hi, Adie. Possibly they were made in different years. I must say that they're handsome! I am enchanted by animal feet on silver pieces, so that's what I always inspect closely. I didn't mean to indicate a serious fault! Anyway, if by copy you mean that another firm has possibly copied this shaker exactly, I think not. If they had, I don't think that they would have marked it "STRACHEN" also. What I find very odd is that the shaker in the center photo, in addition to the company name, has four hallmarks that I can neither read nor identify. My best guess is "E", "F", "r", "B" - but really this is a guess. I started looking on ebay. Found some Strachan goods, but no hallmarks, and no details about the firm. I found online a record of sale for a group of two (not matched, but with one shaker exactly like your shaker with the less prominent toes) Strachan "antique silverplate shakers" that had been sold for $11.xx USD. However, I was using a search engine that wouldn't let me 'back up', and I lost the entry. I found no website for Strachan or a parent company. However, I'm not a librarian, and a librarian with business databases would be able to find Strachan, even if it went out of business, which it might well have. Follows what little I found about Australian silver.
I googled for hallmarks of Australian silver firms and got scanty results. The first link has but few entries, the second a few more.
http://www.925-1000.com/foreign_marks.html
http://www.silvercollection.it/AUSTRALIASILVERSMITHSA.html
Third and fourth links below indicate that Australia had no mandatory sytem of hallmarking silver. Featured book in third link is dedicated to recording Australian silver hallmarks. If you can't find an answer anywhere else, you might have to consult this book or its author. Don't know where you live; it might be hard to find this book outside of Australia. Fourth link is a PDF file on this history of Australian hallmarking from the Gold and Silversmiths Guild of Australia (National Council 2008). It is an interesting article, but it doesn't identify your hallmarks.
http://www.ascasonline.org/articoloAGOST134.html
http://www.gsga.org.au/2008_Newsletter%20article%20on%20early%20Australian%20Hallmarks1.pdf
Fifth link is to the main page of the Silver Society of Australia. I'd email them and ask their advice if I were you.
http://www.silversociety.com.au/index.php?id=19
Sixth link is to Replacements, Ltd. They have some Strachan flatware, but no company info.
http://www.replacements.com/webquote/SFZSFZ1.htm
Sorry, wish I could have been more help. Vetraio50 is Australian, and knows a lot about silver. If he saw this, I bet he would have a good answer for you in short order. The Strachen pieces I've found have all been silverplate of a 'common' quality. That doesn't mean tha
Sorry, Adie! My keyboard froze up and wouldn't let me type a single character or copy the text of my response into another program to finish it. I had to click "Submit Comment" or lose the entire entry. So, I apologize for the rude-sounding finish. What I meant to say was that all the Strachan silverplate I found on ebay was of a 'common' variety, something one might buy at a common department store. I saw no heirloom quality silver. That doesn't mean that there isn't any out there, just that I didn't find any. In any case, I think that your shakers are charming, and quite satisfying. I have nothing negative to say about them at all.
Hi Adie , these a silver plated . The letters in cartouches thought faint are E P NS
Electro plated Nickle Silver. made by STRACHAN WHO I think are british and been arround since after WW11
. Are you an Ozzie collector?
Thank goodness the calvary has arrived! Thanks much, Ozmarty! There's no way I could have discerned EPNS from the central photo. I assumed that these shakers were most probably silverplate since everything Strachan I found was silverplate. I did google Strachan and got no indication that is was English. Auctions kept turning up in Australia, some few in USA. I don't have an international silver reference book at home. May I ask if you found this in a reference work, or is it something you've learned from experience? I want to learn from my mistake if possible! : ) I'm decent at identifying American silver, but international is hit and miss for me. Many thanks, Ozmarty!!!
Hi Adie , I thought they where Austalian to begin with but saw a referance on line to say British . BUT they are Ozzie .
http://www.strachan-online.com/
Great job! I wonder why this link didn't appear in any Google search I entered. Similarily, searches of Strachan images turned up only old, undated silverplate items on ebay, etsy, etc. There was no discussion of the firm on any of the auctions that I encountered. Thank you!!