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What-is-it question CXCVII

A piece of flatware described in 1890 by the manufacturer, N. Cailar, Bayard & Cie of Paris, as a 'nouvelle invention'.




What was the intended use for this item? (sorry, I have no details as to the size of the piece, but would imagine around 5" (13cm) in length).

Trev.

I know for certain, but it's too soon to say!

This is an individual oyster eating implement called une pelle à huîtres in the Cailer et Bayard catalogue. The half-moon bevelled notch at the tip of the bowl is used to cut the flesh of the opened oyster from its half-shell, and then the oyster can be scooped up with the spoon-shaped bowl. These run about 11-12 cm. in length. They are fairly rare on the market, although the manufacturers Murat and P. Canaux & Cie. also made them. To my knowledge Cailer et Bayard did not patent this variation on an oyster fork.

Cailer et Bayard, founded in 1848, was a large manufacturer of silverplate flatware. The company failed in 1934. At its height of production in the 1890’s it employed 200 workers. The factory was on the St-Martin canal in Paris, with a retail outlet on the rue Vivienne.

Cailer et Bayard won prizes at Universal Expositions in 1855, 1867, 1878 and 1889.

Well done JayT! And I know Silverly also knew the answer.



N. Cailar, Bayard & Cie - Paris - 1890

See: http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 38&t=34542

Trev.

Well I see from the ad that this item was patented ( breveté).

Hi JayT,

But could it be that they were patented by another, and they were made under licence?

Trev.

And still in production.

An image from the catalogue of C. Hugo Pott:




Trev.