A trunk full of Tortoise shell (advice plus help with hallmark)

[Mdcv]

Hi everyone, this is my first post reaching out for help/advice here!

Today my wife and I stumbled upon a very old case full of what we thought at the time was faux tortoise shell. I really don't know much at all about it, but there was so much of it, we figured it was surely non-authentic. Upon closer inspection, when we got it home, we discovered one of the pieces - a belt buckle or dress clip - had a metal clasp which under decades of patina, revealed these hallmarks below, when cleaned with a silver cloth. We have been doing a rudimentary search around the internet and are struggling to date it. Our closest shot would be 1885 (?)
We are quite taken by it, and many of the other objects in the case. As yet we have been unable to find any other examples of a similar clasp online.

If anyone can advise how to test for authenticity, we would be very keen to hear. One piece in the box looked clearly molded to me. When performing a hot needle test, it smelled very fragrant (like pine) and omitted a thick white smoke. Other pieces we tested did not smoke, and smelled strongly of burnt hair.

Any advice anyone may be able to offer would be greatly appreciated.

[KC]

The head looks like the British Monarch Duty Mark
http://www.acsilver.co.uk/shop/pc/British-English-Silver-Hallmarks-d84.htm

[mart]

Hi there and welcome to the forum !!  This may be your first visit but we hope it will not be your last !!  Is the pic the buckle you spoke of ??  The burnt hair smell would be the real tortoise shell !!  Hope you checked it in an unobtrusive place or somewhere it would not be seen !!
Was this something inherited or purchased ??
Tortoise shell was popular throughout the 1800`s and even into the mid 20th century !!

http://www.ebay.com/gds/TORTOISESHELL-Real-or-fake-How-to-tell-the-difference-/10000000012067858/g.html

This should be of interest to you !! It has care instructions for natural tortoise  shell !!

[mart]

The head looks like the British Monarch Duty Mark
http://www.acsilver.co.uk/shop/pc/British-English-Silver-Hallmarks-d84.htm

Looks just like Number 5 duty mark !!

[Mdcv]

Thank you KC and Mart!
No, Mart, I've no intention of vanishing, now I'm here I love to share info about this growing hobby!

The links provided are wonderful resources, and in fact I had stumbled upon those in my research. The Monarchs head stamp seen in the link KC provided is quite clear, but the "o" inside a circle, I think denotes 1885. I'd love confirmation of this, as I'm not at all familiar with dating silver.

The hot pin testing was as a result of the link you provided Mart, and yes in an invisible part of the pieces. I think they were quite conclusive. We have cleaned and lightly oiled the pieces as the article recommends.

The case was purchased in a good will store, not inherited. My wife was attracted to the hair combs, which she has always admired. She and I are quite intuitive when looking at antiques, but we had no idea what we had stumbled upon. Here are more photos.

[Mdcv]

More detailed pics.

[Mdcv]

Here is the case it was all found in. The vanity set we strongly suspect is bakelite or faux tortoiseshell. These are just too many dissimilarities between it and all the other pieces.

As for the pieces shot in the individual photos above, we havent the faintest idea as to value. Id imagine they would need to be professionally seen (some have flakes, chips and so on), but we are wary of being groomed into parting with something that we are not so certain of (thats not to say dealers are shady, rather, that we are perhaps too green). 😉

[KC]

You have some nice pieces there!  The pieces are collectible.

Try searching antique faux tortoiseshell celluloid hair comb.  You will find comparables.

Okay first...Mart please see the pictures below.  The top left picture is Mdcv's item enlarged - the diagram next to it is the Queen's Duty Mark and the picture below is another example of the mark on a silver bowl.  This is to show that the mark looks like duty marks on many silver pieces!

Of note is the item that most would consider a "swastika" but was known as a gammadion. If you look at Native American items it is called a Whirling Log. It was very popular throughout history and became so in the early 20th Century in the US as a sign of good will/good luck.  You will find it in jewelry, pottery, porcelain china, embroidered pieces, etc.  That is until it gained it's negative attachment to Nazism. Notice that the piece you have is a right facing piece.  Nazi's adopted the left-facing version in the 1920's but you will see it both ways. 

[mart]

Yes,, thats  what I said above !!  Looks just like the Number 5 duty mark in your link !!  Number 5 was the Queens head duty mark !!

[KC]

Oh....now I am acting "dull"!  LOL  I thought you meant it literally looked like the number "5"!  Boy, is my brain off today!  Thanks for being patient with me! 

[mart]

LOL !!  Its called brain fog !!     Figured you misread but then I wasn`t very specific either !! 

[KC]

Mdcv, hard to tell the date because you don't know the makers mark or the city mark.  If you had the city mark, such as Birmingham or Chester, then you would have the date.  They have different Date charts.

[Mdcv]

Thank you KC. So according to the first link, the duty marks were made up until April 1890, so it predates that. I havent done a thorough search, but the birmingham letter mark "O" appears in a circle in 1888. Unless I find anything to the contrary, Im guessing that may be the one. It certainly fits within the reign of Victoria.

[Mdcv]

That which later became the 'swastika' was first used in buddhist culture for centuries. The nazi's adopted a lot of symbolism from history and inverted or adapted it to give a converse meaning. The runic symbol Sowelu was another used by the Secret Service.

[KC]

Mdcv, that is so true.  I didn't want to list all of the countries histories that have used this (thus I wrote " It was very popular throughout history and became so in the early 20th Century in the US as a sign of good will/good luck.")  It has even been traced back to to B.C. - but there are arguments that it was used 5,000 years ago and some even say 12,000.  Irregardless...it has been one heck of a long time!   

The things that you need to pair together on this is the history of the material that the piece is made of, the history of using it in Jewelry AND the Queen's Duty Mark.  (By-the-way, the duty mark was used even long after it was required because for some it added status and posterity.)

Here's a good read on Plastic, Celluloid, Bakelite and Lucite! (Always remember - there is more searching and not one site is always correct!)
http://www.collectics.com/education_plastic.html

Still searching to help you narrow this down. 

Word of caution:  DO NOT USE THE HAIR COMBS if you intend to sell.  Before I knew all about this antique history,  I received some large trunks of of family items from the 17C forward and in it was a large tortoise colored beautiful comb.  Well...me having extremely thick and long hair had to try it at one point.  Yep, broke some teeth off and trashed it.  Years later I delved into it like you are now...and got sick to my stomach!  Oh well...ignorance WAS bliss!