Help me identify this inscription

**Frunk** · December 19, 2017, 01:05 AM

Hi guys,

This may be better in the VV possibly but hopefully someone can help me.

I've recently uncovered some stuff in a shed at my new house. In fact, that shed is filled to the brim with stuff from former housemates (as many as 20 over the years), and is no longer owned. They said I could clean it out and do whatever I want with the stuff. That will take quite a while, but there are some fine looking pushbikes and other things in there which I'll try and sell.

I started today and came across some silverware. One of the items looks pretty cheap, a sort of "genie in a bottle" type of thing with a chain. I think it's cheap judging by the chain and also the base. I can't imagine it would be very useful, either.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The other item is a more "usable-looking" teapot, which looks more substantial and also has an inscription (possibly a type of hallmark?) on the bottom. I'm wondering if anyone here can identify the language and possibly what it says. It looks Arabic or similar to my very untrained eye, but I don't even know if I've got it up the right way. Let me know if the image isn't clear enough.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The plan is to take these both somewhere to be appraised and work out if they're worth anything. A work colleague believes the inscribed one is possibly silver or silver-plated, while the other one just feels like cheap metal.

Any ideas will be appreciated!

Frunk

**Finlander** · December 19, 2017, 01:48 AM

"Please don't sell me"

**Flinn** · December 19, 2017, 04:07 AM

They both look to be very cheap stuff, I'm afraid; they are probably made of pewter, which was used in the past to "simulate" silver (they have a similar color and both are light metals), but if it is so, they are worth almost nothing. The teapot seems to be coated in silver (poorly, see the stains? that's where the coating has gone off, IMO) with parts in brass.

I'm not even sure they have been actually used, they look like more simple ornaments

**Frunk** · December 19, 2017, 04:37 AM

Pewter wouldn't surprise me for either, especially the one with the chain. I still would like to know if that inscription means anything.

**Flinn** · December 19, 2017, 04:42 AM

well it looks like arab of course, I can guess that this was a sort of souvenir or gift given to someone from arab regions who lived in the same house as yours.

there's a possibility that the teapot is made of tibetan silver, which is an alloy of pewter with a small percentage of silver (usually 10-20 %)

**Condottiere 40K** · December 19, 2017, 08:57 AM

If it's brass, it's silverplated.

Could be somewhat antique since there's no country of origin, or meant for purely local usage from, somewhere in the Muddled East?

Aladdin's lamp could be tourist kitsch.

**Flinn** · December 19, 2017, 09:13 AM

Originally Posted by Condottiere 40K

Could be somewhat antique since there's no country of origin, or meant for purely local usage from, somewhere in the Muddled East?

not necessarly; things made in pewter are usually handcrafted, not industrial products; I had plenty in my old house of similar crap with no country of origin or brand on them.

@ Frunk; definitely, you need to have someone check it, I have a couple of good names for you

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Frunk** · December 19, 2017, 03:32 PM

**Kyriakos** · December 20, 2017, 12:06 AM

Possibly some verse of the Koran?

Or the safe word against the Djin inside the lamp

**Godfrey I of Leuven** · December 20, 2017, 02:46 PM

I agree on both pots being cheap. That being said, no idea what the inscription might be, or why one would inscribe a cheap copy for starters.

I do believe there is software around that can recognize Arabic writing.

**bigdaddy1204** · December 23, 2017, 11:54 AM

It's Arabic. It's not very well written and the words are hard to make out. It says "production" and some technical details.

Definitely not a verse from the Qur'an, sorry to disappoint but it's not a mystical or philosophical text just some manufacturing details!

**NorseThing** · January 01, 2018, 08:11 PM

Whether cheap or valuable -- do not use for food or drink consumption. I had a cousin once who did this with some stuff and it could have done real damage to the kids with the lead and other heavy metals content of the metals. Times have changes and not all that a prior generation used is considered acceptable by modern standards.

**Frunk** · January 01, 2018, 08:30 PM

Good to know! I would have assumed that using them might have run the risk of affecting the value, so hence I would not, but the health implications didn't dawn on me.

Thanks bigdaddy! I'll get these appraised now I finally have some free time over the next couple of weeks.

**Condottiere 40K** · January 01, 2018, 10:59 PM

Learned about the health risks of Third World pottery and ceramics from an American medical drama; also, why East Germans were so successful at female sports.

**Frunk** · March 05, 2018, 12:21 AM

I finally got these checked out at an auction house. As expected, the cheaper-looking one is nothing special. They didn't actually tell me what it's made of, but they didn't disagree when I asked if it's pewter.

The other one, though, with the inscription, is definitely silver. They speculate Moroccan silver with about 80% purity, and said a value of $200-$300 based just off that.

I've held onto them in order to get a second opinion elsewhere. Hopefully I can track down a silver specialist. Regardless, I actually quite like it and might hold onto it, yet.