posted 03-15-2002 04:09 PM            

Thanks!
Tessa

[This message has been edited by Tessa (edited 03-15-2002).]

posted 03-19-2002 05:33 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Tessa:
I guess no one cares about this old spoon. I thought it was really interesting and might spark up a conversation. Sorry...

Tessa

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posted 03-19-2002 07:20 AM            

Based on the wide shot of the whole spoon I have to agree with Clark that your spoon "looks cool." The close up of the bowl is also nice and if the date engraved on the bowl is from when they made the spoon then you have an old one. In your post said that you wanted to show us your find (share), thanks. The wide shot of the spoon doesn't really reveal enough detail for me to comment on the design or pattern. You didn't describe or provide a close-up photo of the marks nor did you speculate about the spoon's origins or period or design.

posted 03-19-2002 12:00 PM            

Whan I first looked at the post, the pictures weren't loading for me, so I couldn't see it to comment on it.

Your spoon looks like a late 19th century German piece, probably from Hanau. Hanau's silver industry at this time was producing large numbers of "reproductions" of 16th and 17th century spoons. The spoons have ornate figural handles, are deliberately distressed to look old, and have odd-looking hallmarks on the back of the bowls, sometimes copies of genuine old marks and sometimes completely made up. The result is an "old" looking spoon, made as a souvenir-type item but good enough to fool the unwary. (I was fooled myself by one of these years ago. I will try to post some pictures for comparison.)

Anyway, the date of 1888 is just what you would expect for one of these. The "Munchen" below the date is the German spelling of Munich. So, you have a German souvenir spoon from Munich, likely made in Hanau, Germany right before 1888.