Design - Leimat.fi

Design can leave other clues to an object’s identity in addition to its official precious-metal marks. A design mark may identify a designer or brand, an internal workman’s mark may identify an individual goldsmith or silversmith, and the object’s pattern may reveal its design history.

Choose a group according to the mark visible on the object or the object’s form. Always compare the complete row of marks as well: design and workmen’s marks supplement the information provided by responsibility, locality, fineness, control and year marks.

Design marks Identify marks used by designers, artists and brands.

Internal workmen’s marks used by studios and factories

Studio and factory marks Discover which goldsmith or silversmith in a studio or factory made the object.

Examples of Finnish silver tableware patterns

Tableware models Compare the forms and decorative motifs of flatware with known patterns.

Rose spoons Identify the makers and periods of popular rose spoons.

Internal workmen’s marks

Studio and factory marks

These small supplementary marks often identify the individual goldsmith or silversmith who made the object. Select the company whose responsibility or symbol mark appears in the complete row of marks.

Atelier Torbjörn Tillander Workmen’s initials and the studio’s stone mark. Auran Kultasepät Internal marks used by the company’s goldsmiths. JALO Workmen’s marks used in JALO production. Kultakeskus Workmen’s, house and internal control marks. Turun Hopea Individual workmen’s marks used by Turun Hopea’s silversmiths.

Mark database

Responsibility mark search

Search for a responsibility mark by its letters or find makers associated with a particular location. You can use either field or complete both.

How to get better search results

If the holder of a responsibility mark is not found, try searching by location only. Results also include makers whose mark has not yet been identified with certainty.
For a Symbol Mark or Signature Mark, enter the Symbol Mark number or Signature Mark search code in the mark field. The codes are available in the Symbol Marks and Signature Marks sections above.
Letters in old marks can resemble one another. If necessary, try alternatives such as I and J, or C and G.
Enter the letters together without full stops or spaces: A:PIHRA → APIHRA, C:G:N → CGN and C.F. ELG → CFELG. The characters /, & and – may form part of a mark.