French Silver Serving Spoon, 1838, Mathieu Maker
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Patination / Patina - In broad terms, patination refers to the exterior surface appearance of the timber, the effect of fading caused by exposure to sunlight and air over the course of a century or more, changing the piece to a soft, mellow colour.
As patina is very difficult to replicate, it is one of the most important guides to determining the age of furniture.
Patina is also the term applied to the bloom or film found on old bronzes due to oxidisation. - Hallmarks - A mark stamped on articles of precious metals in Britain, since the 14th century, certifying their purity. It derives its name from the Guild Hall of the Goldsmiths' Company, who recieved its Charter in 1327 giving it the power to assay (test the purity) and mark articles of gold and silver.
The hallmark will consist of several marks, including the:
- silver standard mark, indicating the purity of the metal. Sterling silver is .925 pure silver.
- the city mark indicating the city in which it was assayed eg London, Birmingham, York etc.
- the date mark, usually a letter of the alphabet in a particular font and case,
- a duty mark, indicating whether duty had been paid to the crown, and only in use from 1784 to 1890
The piece may include an additional mark, the maker's mark, although not forming part of the hallmark, will be located in the vicinity of the hallmarks.
Sometimes silver plated items will bear faux hallmarks, often confusing those not familiar with silver markings. - 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.
This item has been included into following indexes:
-
silver cutlery / flatware, patterns
- fiddle and thread pattern 260
- fiddle pattern 1,139
- silver, country of manufacture - French 353
- spoons, silver - serving 465
Visually similar items
A fine pair of George III sterling silver basting spoons, 1785 London, with rare incuse mark, and maker's mark for William Sutton, in Old English design, crisply hallmarked to stems. Provenance: Purchased from Kevin Murray silver for $2200, silver weight 1
A Georgian sterling silver spoon, 1788 London, with maker's marks for John Lambe, the Old English patterned spoon, bright cut to the stem with a floral motif and an unmarked cartouche; hallmarked to underside of terminal. Silver weight 60gr
A George III sterling silver basting spoon, 1826 Exeter, with early maker's mark for William Woodman, a fiddle pattern spoon with an engraved terminal, hallmarked underside, silver weight 149gr length 32 cm
A pair of Britannia standard silver rat tail spoons, 1715 and 1716, with Britannia standard, maker's marks rubbed, probably G?, of typical form with elongated bowls, hallmarked to the stems and with engraved initials Ia underside of terminals. Silver weigh