Henry Loring spoons?

MLF · Post by **MLF** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:52 am

Hello Forum,

I have a set of dessert spoons that mystify me. I initially thought they were made by Henry Loring, but I believe his mark has a dot between the 'H' and 'L' which does not appear to be the case here (the dot is very faint, if there is one). Nor do I have an explanation for the other mark: a simplified three-tower mark with an 'M' at the bottom. Can anyone shed any light on these marks?

Kind regards
Mikael

MLF · Post by **MLF** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 2:30 pm

Ah, I see that the post has been moved to the German section - and I certainly agree that the tower mark resembles certain German town marks, such as the one from Hamburg. However, it's atypical, I think, in being little more than an outline - almost as if meant to look European rather than actually being so. The spoons were bought in America and I always thought they had a typical American feel to them. But of course one does see foreign silver in American from time to time... Anyway, I look forward to other members' views on these spoons.

Kind regards
Mikael

Hose_dk · Post by **Hose_dk** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:13 pm

Go to section with german marks and look for Altona.

blakstone · Post by **blakstone** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:04 pm

Yes, Altona is correct. Altona assayer's letters are not known with anywhere near the precision that the similar Hamburg letters are, but I have noted items with this "M" dated 1832-1849, and Stierling's Goldschmiedezeichen von Altona bis Todern extends that a little bit to 1829-1850. So that's a rough date: second quarter 19th century. Stierling also gives the Altona maker "HL" as Ferdinand Heinrich Laberentz (ca. 1800 - 1865), working from 1826.

Hope this helps!

MLF · Post by **MLF** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:54 am

Fantastic - mange tak, Hose - thank you very much, Blackstone! I'll go and update my files with this very useful information!

Kind regards
Mikael