Expert: Martin G Roberts - 10/4/2006

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Followup To

Question -
Hello,
I have a pewter,I believe,wine decanter. I can not ID the touch mark as of yet. The mark is a castle with three stars above it and the letters G.B. The shape is odd,it almost looks like a genie bottle. The top that screws on has three circles in a pyramid shape. It does have other touch marks but they are worn and unreadable. I would like any information you could provide as to age, where it might be from and what it was used for.  Thank you, Lisa

Answer -
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Hmm, don't know - the screw top is a bit odd on a 'decanter' shaped object. If you can send photos to stynt@btopenworld.com, I shall comment further, but bear in mind it is likely to be modern, or repro.

My digital is charging and I will send pictures when it is ready. However, do you know of a touch mark like this? It does appear to have a lot of age.

Answer
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Thanks for the photos - sorry not to reply to your earlier further question, but AllExperts was down. There are thousands of known marks with castle like features, so it doesn't help much.

The shape: ah, one of those. But there seems to some uncertainty as to exactly what they were for. Could be wine bottles, or perhaps holy water containers. Hard to be sure from your photos, but I would say yours was 19th Century. They are Continental European, probably French or Swiss.