posted 06-10-2019 02:12 PM            

The nice ladle above was recently an auctioned off and has some interesting features. The mark is for Charles Billon born in Loche, Switzerland in 1766. He found is way to St. Louis, Mo by 1818 via Paris, London and Philadelphia and stayed there until his death in 1822.

The initials HSG may be for Henry S. Geyer. St. Louis was a city of 10,000 people in 1820 so there probably were not too many with these initials and Geyer in the only one with those initials listed in Paxton’s Directory for St. Louis published in 1821. Geyer was a Senator from Missouri and has a street named after him.

Would the monogram normally reflect the husband’s initials or the wife initials in 1820?

The other things that are interesting about this ladle are French style shoulder and the oval bowl. St. Louis was founded by the French in the 1760ss and even as late as 1820 French style was still used. The oval bowl replaced the round bowl I think just slightly earlier on the east coast so St. Louis was using an up to date style. Of course, this ladle may have been made by one of Billon’s connections in Philadelphia as he is listed as a clock and watchmaker rather than a silversmith in the St. Louis Director note above.