posted 04-16-2005 12:52 PM            

Hi there,

I am researching a pair of Nouveau Spoons for a friend of mine. They have floral decoration and have a hand hammered finish and a shell shaped bowl. Unfortunately I don't have a photo, but here is the info:

The marks on the back read "830S NM ARNESEN" followed by a strange symbol (looks like a side on "M" with a "H" beneath it and an "o" on top, along with some dots.

posted 04-16-2005 10:54 PM            

"830" is the silver purity (83%, the most common Norwegian fineness), and "NM" (I am told) stands for "Norske Monstre" or "Norway Made".

"Arnsen" is undoubtedly the retailer, probably the A. Arnsen whose name pops up around the time, but that's only a guess (and not much of one, since apparently there are only about a dozen or so Norwegian surnames. )

You can find a little more about modern Norwegian silver marks at this site (Modern Norwegian Silver Hallmarks), and perhaps our good friend dragonflywink can tell us more still.

Hope this helps!

posted 04-17-2005 03:16 PM            

Computer crashed last week, still being repaired and I'm working on someone else's computer, without my references. Agree with blakstone with the exception of the maker, bit hard to tell from the computerized drawing, but appears to be the mark of Magnus Aase of Bergen. If I ever get my computer back, I can post a photo of the mark.

posted 04-18-2005 08:51 AM            

Unfortunately I can't tell you much about MA other that it must have been a very prolific producer. My guess is that the firm started sometime early in the 20thC, survived until at least WWII and disappeared since. Dragonflywink is likely to have more info once that computer is back working.

Blakstone, do you have a sample of the Olsen mark for comparing?

posted 04-18-2005 12:35 PM            

Of course, given what I said about Norwegian surnames, I have no doubt there may have been a silver manufacturer by this name, possibly even the current company, having given up it silverware trade and concentrating on base metals at some point. In either case, I do think that Aase and Olsen are connected somehow; I can't think of any other reason for this mark to be attributed to both (check any online auction site to see what I mean) and for it to survive on as Olsen's. (Though in stylized form, it is still AM conjoined. Earlier versions even have seven pellets in a globe, and this version seems to have appeared about the time the one shown disappeared, i.e. WWII)

posted 04-18-2005 05:35 PM            

Interesting that you say you have seen the mark associated more often with Olsen than with Aase - I had never even run accross Olsen; now we know how little I know. I had just always seen it linked to this Magnus Aase about which it is hard to find out much.

I did a bit more searching: One small snippet that I translated in a fashion said that in his time he was Bergen's 'most recognized' silversmith. He lived from 1876 to 1953. The few items by him that I found on a Norwegian site (sadly they don't show the mark) are in older styles. (Though I have seen some attractive items in a general 'scandinavian modern' line in the past on NA and European sites).

Also there must have been an connection between MA and Torkel Olsen (1885-1963) as well as 'AS Theodor Olsens Eftf'.

However, my patience and energy were insufficient to wrestle with Norwegian beyond this little bit.

Dragonflywink ??

posted 04-18-2005 08:01 PM            

I have seen the mark attributed to Olsens, but it's been on flatware pieces in either the Rose or the Hardanger patterns, which I've also run across with other maker's marks. Was told at one point that Olsens retailed some of their patterns, made by other Bergen silversmiths, but haven't found any verification of this. The Th.Olsens mark that I'm familiar with is similar to the logo on their website with sort of a splayed out crown effect, stretched out horizontally rather than vertically, with the circle being smaller than the points (does that make sense?).

posted 04-18-2005 10:56 PM            

If I follow you, then the first is Aase's, the others are Olsen's.

After a little internet snooping of my own, I can add that Torkel Olsen was the son of silversmith Theodor Olsen, though given the dates you have, Arg(um)entum, I suspect possibly a grandson of the founder. Also, at the same address for Theodor Olsen's Eftf., there is a Harald Aase & Co. (Try and internet search for "Harald Aase & Co" and see what you get!)

I still think the marks, the company - and now the men themselves - are related.

posted 04-19-2005 05:20 PM            

Just to add to possible family connections, believe there is a Gunnar Aase currently working as a silversmith in Bergen.

blakstone, the first mark you show appears to have a dot above the "A", can't say that I've seen the mark with that before. And I do have to wonder at the significance of the seven dots and what connection they might indicate between the two makers.

Cheryl ;o)

posted 04-20-2005 12:38 AM            

As for the seven pellets, that I can answer. They are also found on the old Bergen city silver mark, itself taken from the municipal arms. They represent the seven hills that surround the city of Bergen. At least one other 20th century Bergen firm had them in its mark: Kristian Hestenes. (If I have that attribution right; as evidenced here, I've been proven wrong with Norwegian makers before!)