Spoon Marks

PHOTOS REQUIRED - marks + item
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moonshine
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:36 pm

Spoon Marks

Post by moonshine »

Hello All. Marks are very worn, but I'm hoping there is enough for someone to possibly recognize. 8 in. Long, and heavy at 82 grams. Thank you in advance.

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JayT
contributor
Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:45 pm

Re: Spoon Marks

Post by JayT »

Here is some feedback on your spoon:
-It is a tablespoon in the filet or thread pattern.
-It is French, probably late 18th C.
-I see a partial charge mark above the maker's mark in photo 2 and 3. In photo 3 the maker's mark is shown right side up. The maker's mark appears very dark on my monitor. Can you make out the letters? I think I see L, something, D? Can you confirm? Perhaps a bit of a clean of the mark and a sharper photo would help.
-I don't see a date letter mark.
-There is a discharge mark of a bird head.
-There are 2 personalizations: an engraved letter by the side of the discharge mark, and a crest on the spatula. Perhaps you could post in the crest section also.

If you could make out the maker's mark, I might be able to help with an attribution.

Hope this helps a bit, and good luck in your research.
moonshine
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:36 pm

Re: Spoon Marks

Post by moonshine »

Thank You for your response. I tried better pics and again looking at it under magnification, it could be an L or I on the left side, and an A on the right, with the D on the bottom. Thanks again.

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JayT
contributor
Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:45 pm

Re: Spoon Marks

Post by JayT »

Thank you for the additional information.

Above the maker's mark I see the "feathered" right leg of the crowned A charge mark, used from 1783-1789, and you show the parrot head discharge mark for medium items, in use for the same period.

I believe the maker is Louis-Alphonse Demoustier (also written Dumoutier or Desmoustiers). His mark was LAD and a crescent under a crowned fleur-de-lys and two grains.

Demoustier registered this mark on 13 September 1758, and was listed as working and living on Rue de Harley in Paris from 1759 until 1787. Thus your spoon was made towards the end of his career.

See Nocq, v. 2, p. 65.

The date letter mark is too distorted to read, but with the dates of the charge and discharge marks along with the working dates of the maker, you can narrow production of your spoon to 1783-1787.

Given the poor state of the marks, someone else might come up with a different or better attribution.
moonshine
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:36 pm

Re: Spoon Marks

Post by moonshine »

Thank you for your time and effort.
JayT
contributor
Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:45 pm

Re: Spoon Marks

Post by JayT »

My pleasure.
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