spoon, 18. cent

PHOTOS REQUIRED - marks + item
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orthogonal
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spoon, 18. cent

Post by orthogonal »

A dear friend requests help with those hallmarks. Any clue is highly appreciated.

1.) Head with worn numbers, maybe 61?

2.) rooster + "2": 800/1000

3.) makers mark: K (?) + heart

4.) eagle's head: small articles, till 1798

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legrandmogol
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Re: spoon, 18. cent

Post by legrandmogol »

I can't be of much help but I believe the 61 and the little A in the maker's mark means it was assayed in Puy-de-Dome in the town of Clermont if I am understanding Tardy's correctly. I can't help with the maker
legrandmogol
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Re: spoon, 18. cent

Post by legrandmogol »

I also believe the eagle head in this case also is meant to indicate it is a medium sized and made in the provinces (Puy-de-Dome). It would also indicate the spoon was made between 1803-1809, again if I am reading Tardys correctly. People with more experience with French silver will eventually be able to clear this up I am sure
blakstone
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Re: spoon, 18. cent

Post by blakstone »

That is correct; the eagle’s head here is the 1809 medium-sized provincial census mark, which makes sense as the other marks here were in use 1798-1809; the spoon was evidently presented for the mark census in 1809 order to avoid the required assay duty associated with the new marks.

Assay Office numbering followed the official French départemental numbering, which was based on an alphabetical list of départements. Many départements were created, merged and abolished during the early years of the Republic and especially during the Napoleonic era. Unfortunately, Tardy gives the official départemental numbering only for the 1819-1838 period and not for the earlier 1798-1809 and 1809-1819 cycles. The assay office in Puy-de-Dôme (which was in the city of Clermont-Ferrand) was #74 in 1798, #78 in 1809, and did not become #61 until 1819. (It is currently #63, but it was the fact that the numbers changed so often which led them to be abandoned in favor idiographic marks for assay offices beginning in 1838.)

That said, during this period (1798-1809) département #61 was Meuse, which had assay offices in Bar-de-Luc and Verdun. However, I cannot find this maker’s mark in any city in that département. However, in département #60, Meurthe (now Meurthe-et-Moselle), which had offices in both Lunéville and Nancy, there was a maker in Pont-à-Mousson (which was under aegis of the Nancy office) who did register a mark “K under a heart” during the period:

Étienne Kaüffer

Born: 25 May 1752, Pont-à-Mousson, Meurthe-et-Moselle, son of Simon Kaüffer & Marie Madeleine Léladdin
Married: 17 Feb 1778, Pont-à-Mousson, Meurthe-et-Moselle, to Marguerite Mourot, daughter of Joseph Mourot & Mare Georginne Tenant
Died: 4 Jul 1812, Pont-à-Mousson, Meurthe-et-Moselle


He was a master under the ancien régime; I do not know when, but he is recorded as such on his marriage in 1778. His post-revolutionary mark - K under a heart - was registered on 22 Frimaire an VII [12 Dec 1798].

He had several children, including son Ferdinand Kaüffer (1792-1856) who was a silversmith in Nancy, as were Ferdinand’s sons, André Étienne and Marie Joseph.

I agree that the number looks like 61, not 60, but it is poorly struck. The two Lorrainian départements Meurthe and Meuse were neighboring (their numbering coincidentally consecutive by alphabetical happenstance) and Kaüffer’s mark is the only exact match in either département, both of which have complete surviving records of all the early maker’s marks. I am confident that the maker of your friend’s 1798-1809 spoon is Étienne Kaüffer (1752-1812) of Pont-à-Mousson, Meurthe(-et-Moselle).

Hope this helps!

Ref: Claude-Gérard Cassan, Orfèvres de Lorraine et de Sedan (Nancy: Presses Universitaires, 1994), p. 71, maker #33.
orthogonal
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Re: spoon, 18. cent

Post by orthogonal »

I am impressed! Thank you very much for that elaborate response!
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