posted 12-10-2005 06:16 PM            

Each bears three marks. On three spoons, they are identical, but the fourth spoon has one mark (the maker's mark?) that differs from the others, although the spoons look virtually identical and all bear the same monograms in the same style. All have the Minerva head facing right as you see in the picture here, although she looks a little different in the "odd" spoon. All also have the mark of the two-faced Janus illustrated here, although under magnification you can see there is a number "2" just above the two heads which isn't visible in this picture. Three of the spoons have the "W" mark with what looks to be the all-seeing eye in a triangle above it. The fourth spoon had this mark (sorry for the poor detail shot) of the elided "V" and "H" with a dot above and below it.

Any suggestions as to what these are--are they even French?

I have only Wyler's book to refer to and he shows a right-facing Minerva head in a circle as illustrated here, saying it is a French mark but giving no further detail. I am mystified by many Continental marking systems, but I know many of you are not!

Thanks for your time!

posted 12-10-2005 06:47 PM            

Unfortunately I have no references for Belgian makers' marks, but perhaps someone else will have.

In my experience it is not that unusual to have sets of flatware made up at different times and by different makers, especially in continental silver. As a family grew (or its wealth did) pieces could be added, and if the styles had changed slightly the new maker would match the old as best they could. For example, I once had a set of Dutch forks that had one from the 1780s, two from the 1810s or so, and three from the mid-19th century. Each sub-set was slightly different; interestingly, the engravers had done a better job of closely matching the original monogram than the makers had of matching the overall pattern.