Dragon Style , Father Time, Trifaccia, Trinity- Help Plz 830S

[Joecoins]

Purchased this last Friday, at an antique store in summerside PEI. For 35$. Actualy eyed it out for 2 days before i bough it..was trying to sell/ trade some antique Turquoise and profit before buying it. Turns out , i get to sell the turquoise elswhere, but what a nice brooch i bought. Its brought me great luck so far.
Was wearing it when i bought several other great antiques. Such as a book "The Masters Wife" first edition. And just yesterday, i think i got the masters wifes sword... I will post it seperate.
Concerning this brooch, I have looked for days to identify this Maker... Can anybody Help Please.
Thanks.

 

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[Joecoins]

Looks Like, C.H. or. O.H.

 

[Joecoins]

More photos, The ones that could load..... Not all the good photos of front are loading sorry

 

[Joecoins]

Gypsy proofed.

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Very nice piece, congrats!

 

[Red-Coat]

It looks beautifully made. It has an ‘830 S’ mark for .830 fine silver, which is a typically Scandinavian standard and I would be sure its Norwegian repoussé work.

It’s an ‘arts & crafts’ piece known as ‘dragestil’… a term which has been loosely extended to include Norse folk art symbolism beyond the traditional three entwined dragons… sometimes with no dragons at all. The piece below has no dragons, but the same central pagan figure with three faces. See the additional noses to the left and right of the head, such that it’s three faces melded into one (as on yours). I’m sure this has a particular name in Norse folklore, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is.



The piece I’ve illustrated is also .830 silver by Henrik Moller of Trondheim, and marked as such. I think you’re right that the mark on yours is ‘OH’ but I think it’s at the modern end of vintage, which is not really my expertise. I can’t help much further except by doing the same kind of Google searches you could do yourself. Hope the above gives you a bit more to go on.

 

[Joecoins]

Thanks Red Coat.
I agree Its Dragestil. Dragon style
I that was popular around 1890-1910.
I would call this as antique not vintage i think.
Aparently in 1920 most people used 925 in norway. I think the 830S is more likely if its a 100 year old peice.
I have seen the work of henrik moller in my research , as well as some other norweigan silver smiths. Mollers peices do look the most like mine.
Some more of his work below..

 

[Joecoins]

I would love to know if this figure has a name specific to norse folklore. But i cant find anything either. Just that the three headed face apears on the outside of medeival buildings that inspired dragestil.

 

[Red-Coat]

Norway standardised its silver fineness at .830 In 1892 (the ‘830 S’ mark then became compulsory), but only began switching to the sterling standard from 1920 onwards. Nevertheless, many small artisans stayed with .830 silver long after that and it’s still a legitimate standard today for those who want to use it.

Moller pieces were still being produced up to 1937 and, although he was a major pioneer for these styles, many followed in his footsteps. Without a maker we may never be sure, but what led me to believe it’s a later date is the elaborate additional decoration on the repoussé work. That’s more characteristic of later pieces compared to the cleaner styles of earlier pieces.

 

[Joecoins]

Ok but if its more recent i figured the makers mark would be more documented. I also though there would be additional markings like assayer.

 

[Red-Coat]

Ok but if its more recent i figured the makers mark would be more documented. I also though there would be additional markings like assayer.

Norway’s modern hallmarking system came into effect in 1892 and currently it only requires a silver fineness mark and a maker’s mark. Anything else is voluntary. City marks are sometimes included together with the two compulsory marks, and the national mark ‘NM’ (Norsk Monster) or other country indication is sometimes seen, but these are not usually present on small pieces and only sometimes on things like flatware.

Since 1983 Norway has been a member of the ‘Convention on the Control & Marking of Articles of Precious Metals’… an international treaty between States on cross-border trade that means their silver doesn’t need to be re-assayed for sale in other countries providing it has additional marks above and beyond the two compulsory marks. So, since that date, the inclusion of the national mark has become the norm, as required by the treaty (but not by Norwegian law).

You may of course be correct... but it's the identification of the maker that would help confirm it.

My general experience of maker’s marks is that older ones are rather easier to trace than modern ones (unless from a prestigious/large maker) because they’re better documented in the public domain.

 

[Joecoins]

This is cool info thanks. I will keep looking for the maker. And perhaps some norway silversmith forums or the like.