posted 10-22-2003 01:51 AM            

The front is monogrammed and the back reads "d. 28 Febr. 1869." Presumably "d." stands for "deceased" in English or some other language.

I would guess that the fork was originally part of a set owned by the deceased, and that after his/her death, the set was split up, and the individual pieces were inscribed and given to different family members.

By the by, can anybody identify the maker--"B & G"?

posted 10-22-2003 02:54 PM            

I have also puzzled over the "d." One possibility is that the fork had migrated to another country by the time it was inscribed. The monogram on the front and the inscription on the back do not quite match perfectly in lettering style. So, although the fork was made and puchased in Germany, it may have been inscribed years later in another country.

If that is the case, the country would have to be one where the word for February can be abbreviated "Febr". So even though in France "d." could stand for "décédé" (deceased), February in French is "Février". In German, February is "Februar".

posted 10-22-2003 04:04 PM            

Perhaps somebody with a more complete listing of German hallmarks can determine exactly what year the fork was made.

Tardy does show an 1821 three tower Hamburg mark having the same outline as the mark on my fork. The mark in Tardy has a "V" under the towers, whereas this fork has an "E". However, the Tardy mark lacks the details on the towers that the fork's mark has. So perhaps my fork is from the next date cycle, or perhaps Tardy's illustration is just not fully detailed.

posted 10-22-2003 05:26 PM            

The notation could be in Latin (and therefore used anywhere):

d from decedere (de vita), to die (depart from life)

and Febr from Februarius,

but I vote for English, with the fork being brought to America (where Febr. was used) with immigrants, and inscribed according to the old world custom of day/month/year.

See the thread at the following link for another example by this maker:

German hallmarks

posted 10-22-2003 10:30 PM            

• in mid-19th century when silver was still quite expensive immigrants brought monogrammed substantial silver with them? Some may have, but I'd say very few.
  
• a number of years later they died, the silver was marked the American way to indicate death but with a German style date.
  Not impossible and like all reasonable theories it is assembled to match the facts. But the odds make some further corroboration essential. So, here are some questions:
  
• how were American memorial spoons normally marked?
  
• have there ever been memorial forks?
  
• is the "upstroke" of the '1' consistent with American practice at the time?

posted 10-22-2003 11:54 PM            

The "1" does have an upstroke, although it is not as extended as the one on the German fork.

And here is an inscription from an American coin silver dessert spoon. The upstroke here is longer than the Gorham one.

posted 10-23-2003 07:02 PM            

quote:

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Presentation of inscribed spoons to participants in funerals was a common practice in Europe in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The custom was followed in New York among members of the Dutch community in New York City and Albany.

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Here are some inscriptions from Albany funeral spoons catalogued by Norman Rice in Albany Silver 1652 - 1825:

Annie Yates 4th Feby 1795 in her 69th Year

Stephen van Rensselaer died 14th Sept 1787 Aged5 Months & 18 Days

John D. Peyster Esqr. Died Feby: 1789 Aged 95 Yrs: 1 Month & 6 Days

John Van Allen died 30th decr 1797 Aged 63Yrs 3 Mo

Magdalena Gansevoort / Obt 12th Octr 1796 AE 78 y 2 m

In Memory of / Peter Van Vechten

In Memory of Teunis / T. Van Vechten died Decr 7th / 1817 Aged 68 Yrs 7 Mo 2 dys

Note the typical Anglo-American engraving in the following photo ( the 1775 date predates the spoon, which was made after 1780):

Below are two 18th C European (probably Germanic) spoons with typical engraving. In the example on the left, the style of the one is archaeic; in the example on the right, which is typically pricked or "pounced", the numerical style does not differ appreciably from that used in the Nineteenth Century, except that the upper flag on the one is often omitted and the legs spread so that the left leg resembles a long flag:

posted 12-01-2003 09:10 AM            

Another thought... If a maker or engraver were attempting to create a replacement piece or a customer was getting an additional piece made the customer may want the same engraving to match as closly as possible the existing work... Just a thought.

posted 12-01-2003 01:21 PM            

quote:

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Concerning the d. in the mono the member was right who said 'den' translated 'the'.

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posted 12-01-2003 05:36 PM            

Having done some checking around I now believe that one cannot distinguish based on style between older American writing and German formal ("Kanzlei") script from the same time. I was very surprised by the fact that American records from last century do not reflect the differences from European ones that we take for granted today.

posted 12-15-2003 06:57 PM            

And an excerpt on the silver:

"Further research showed that the spoon was a so called "funeral spoon" distributed to pallbearers carrying the last remains of distinguished citizens to their final resting place, a custom in vogue in the western part of Sweden. This would explain why a spoon made in 1726 carried an inscription of a person who died in 1728. Obviously Fernl�f must have carried a well-stocked supply of spoons to be inscribed when the occasion demanded it."

posted 01-01-2004 04:46 AM              

I believe that the first suggestion by Argentum is the correct explanation.

The d. stands for den meaning the.
That is the common way of dating in letterheads in german speaking countries - and in Denmark.