THE DIRECTORY OF AUSTRALIA SILVERSMITHS
MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF AUSTRALIAN SILVER

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created by Giorgio B. owner of
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AUSTRALIA SILVERSMITHS
ALPHABETICAL LISTING
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AUSTRALIAN SILVERSMITHS    A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M    N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U    V    W    X    Y    Z    NOT IDENTIFIED
ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MARKS
(click on the photo to enlarge image)
SILVERSMITH'S NAME
AND MARKS
SILVERSMITH'S INFORMATION
PACE John Henry
PACE John Henry
South Australia, Adelaide
active 1840s
PARK William
William Park
active c.1840
PEETZ Boris (possibly)
Boris Peetz, Victoria
Victoria
PHOENIX MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Phoenix Manufacturing Company: Imperial trademark Phoenix Manufacturing Company Phoenix Manufacturing Company: Imperial trademark Phoenix Manufacturing Company: figural trademark
Victoria, Melbourne
Founded in 1916 by A.I. Ward, A.E. Bennett and J.Sharp. Albert I. Ward became the managing director and his son, Albert S. Ward, works manager. The original location was at 181 Little Collins Street, , Melbourne, moving in 1920 to a large new factory at 459-461 Punt Road, Richmond. In c. 1932 was introduced the trademark IMPERIAL. Phoenix Manufacturing Company Pty Ltd closed in the mid 1960s.



PLATERS PTY LTD
Platers Pty Ltd: Hecworth trademark Platers Pty Ltd: Hecworth trademark
Victoria, Melbourne
active in the Melbourne suburn of St Kilda at 39 Greeves street. Hecworth was a brand name sold through a shopfront in Collins Street Melbourne. The brand was taken over by Rodd Pty Ltd in 1940
PROUD W.J.
PROUD W.J. PROUD W.J.
New South Wales, Sydney
active since 1900s. W.J. Sanders acted as supplier of the Proud retail jewellery business.
QWIST Christian Ludwig
QWIST Christian Ludwig
New South Wales, Sydney                   
active 1860s/1870s                           




HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER - MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION
BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS
AUSTRALIA AND ITS SILVER
A BRIEF HISTORY
 1841 map of Australia Colony
Australia in the 19th century was made up of six separate colonies, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and Western Australia, South Australia (including, at this time, also the Northern Territories).
In term of working silversmiths only three colonies supported any number of craftsmen, namely South Wales capital, Sydney, Victoria, capital Melbourne and South Australia capital, Adelaide.
In the first half of the 19th century inhabitants of Australia were few tenths of thousands and pre 1850 Australian silver by comparison to colonial silver in general must be considered very rare.
Most working silversmiths with retail business carried imported silver or plated items as current stock and locally produced items were manufactured only to fulfill immediate orders (as presentation trophies) when the waiting time to order pieces from England was too long.
No form of official mark or date letter system was introduced into the hallmarking of Australian silver.
Early Australian silversmiths marked their objects with their full name or initials and imitations of English hallmarks as leopard's heads, lions and anchors.
In 1988 was formed the Gold and Silversmiths Guild of Australia. A voluntary system of marking was introduced (maker's mark, standard mark, guild mark and date letter).





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