Gilt Silver Plique a Jour Tea Spoons Set

Three gilt silver plique a jour tea spoons, two marked 800,…
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Three gilt silver plique a jour tea spoons, two marked 800, Austria (one with engraving 1893), length 10.5 cm, plus an unmarked gilt silver spoon in foliate design a/f (break to enamel in finial), length 11.5 cm, total weight 27gm (3)

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  • A/f, as Inspected - The letters "A/F" or "as inspected" as part of a description is the cataloguer's shorthand for "all faults" or "as found", meaning the item has some type of damage or deficiency, it is of uncertain date or provenance, and/or that the seller takes no responsibility for the completeness of the item or the accuracy of the description.
  • Marrow Spoon - A spoon with a long handle and a narrow scoop shaped bowl, used to scoop and eat marrow from the hollow centre of roasted bones. Some marrow scoops are double ended with a different shaped bowl at each end.
  • Foliate - Decorated with leaves or leaf-like forms.
  • Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.

    Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins.
  • Engraving - The method of decorating or creating inscriptions on silver and other metal objects by marking the surface with a sharp instrument such as a diamond point or rotating cutting wheel.
  • Plique-A-Jour - Plique a jour, which translates from the French as ?glimpse of daylight? is a method of enamelling in which the backing is removed or cut away so the light shines through, with a similar effect to a stained glass window. The enamel is held in place by border.

    Although the technique of plique-a-jour has been known and in use since the 6th century, it became popular again in the late 19th century, in Russia and Scandinavia. Plique-a-jour was popular in the Art Nouveau period, especially for jewellery.

    Because of the length of time required to produce an item, and the high failure rate, production was limited, and the technique is little used today.

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