Q&A ON RESEARCHING MARKS ON
S. HOGAN SILVER FLATWARE – PAUL MATHEY & HANAU POCKET WATCH – CHINESE STERLING SILVER TEAPOT

Yes, correct. S. HOGAN was a short-lived Retailers & Distributors of Silverware made by others. Not all of their pieces are marked with the original maker's logos, but most do, hence the Krider & Biddle accompanying mark on the pieces you found on the web.

Very little is known of this company other than they were in operation sometime ca 1850s - 1870s and that they were located in the general region of New England, USA. The vast majority of their "silver" items were made of "Coin Silver" (see our Glossary through our EXTRA HELP section), which was typical of that era in America.

The Works (i.e. the actual watch internal mechanism) were indeed made by PAUL MATHEY as marked. I will not expand on that too much as he is easy to research on the web. Just note that his name is sometimes also spelled with two T's as in Paul Matthey in some references and that Locle is a town in Switzerland that has been an important hub for watchmaking since the 19thC and remains so today. Hopefully these terms and clarification will help you research it further without much difficulty, but please let us know if you need any assistance on that.

Other marks:

a) The chevron mark was used as one of the unofficial hallmarks for Hanau, Germany. You will find this mark in our database under the "DIAMONDS, TRIANGLES etc" and other Shape Categories, or use our NAME SEARCH for Hanau to see it faster (no. 9 etc on that list). This indicates that the Case was made in Hanau, Germany. For more on Hanau and Hanau Silversmiths, please see our article on Silver Pseudomarks.

b) The shield with the Crown and the number 18 symbol is a variation of the UK hallmark for 18K Gold ca 1798 - 1974. Please see our "Recognizing Country Hallmarks" page through our EXTRA HELP section. This shows that the case (and possibly the entire Watch) was imported to the UK after it was made.

c) The "SF under crown" initials are those of the UK importers that made this watch & case available to the UK market. This mark refers to SAMUEL FREEMAN from Coventry (near London) who was himself a watch maker ca 1860s - 1890s and probably imported this watch for resale.

d) The G mark is that of the original maker of this case in Hanau and most likely for GUTGESELL GEBRUDER [means Gutgesell Bros.], who worked around the same time (ca 1860s - 1890s).

Please use our INITIALS SEARCH for these initials to see an entry that refers to the same mark. This company was a Retailers, but unfortunately their entire name is not documented or registered. They were in business ca 1880s - 1920s and most of their items were made by several Artisans and Silversmiths in the Canton (China) and Hong Kong regions, many of whom were trained by British expats of the time.

Also, if you use our NAME SEARCH for Hong Kong, you should also be able to see several other marks from the region and compare with similar ones in Kanji (simple Chinese) characters.

Yes, this is indeed an authentic CHRISTOFLE silver mark. Please use our NAME SEARCH for Christofle to see several examples. The insect is a bee flanked by the letters O and C. Because your item appears to be in the Art Nouveau style, we believe it dates ca 1880s - 1920s.

Yes, these initials read JTH, in which case please use our INITIALS SEARCH to find that your hunch is correct and that this Danish maker's name is none other than JENS TAGE HANSENS.

As you correctly pointed out, if you use our INITIALS SEARCH for WH&S you can confirm that this maker is WILLIAM HUTTON & SONS (Sheffield, UK). Your silver spoons date ca 1880s - 1920s.

The BM initials refer to Britannia Metal - please see our Glossary through ourEXTRA HELP section.

To use our huge database of Silver & Jewelry makers' marks and hallmarks, including marks on other Precious metals, Pewter and other collectible Metalware, please see our Silver & Jewelry or Pewter Marks Identification Guides.

To find prices and determine values for your antiques & collectibles, including Jewelry & Silver or Pewter, please see our Antiques Price Guides with millions of examples of items sold at auction.