A Cape silver soup ladle, unknown maker HNS, 18th century
Day Sale
LOT 96
A Cape silver soup ladle, unknown maker HNS, 18th century
Lot Estimate Change Currency
ZAR 9 000 - 12 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 10 812
Auction Catalogue
About this Item
A Cape silver soup ladle, unknown maker HNS, 18th century
255g
length: 37cm
Notes
Stamped HNS, this maker’s mark remains unattributed to a definitively identified Cape silversmith. Although the initials appear on a small group of late 18th-century Cape silver pieces, no archival record has conclusively linked them to a named silversmith. Some scholars have suggested a possible association with Daniel Heinrich Schmidt based on stylistic similarities and comparable secondary punches, but this remains unproven. The mark therefore continues to be catalogued as an “unknown maker”, a small but intriguing mystery within the study of Cape silver.
Similar marks can be seen illustrated here.
Cape Silver Marks, The Silver Collector's Definitive Guide,
2026, HNS
Accessed 19/02/2026
Provenance
Private Collection.
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