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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 Continental / International Silver
 Crescent, Crown & JW on Italian piece???
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| Author | Topic: Crescent, Crown & JW on Italian piece??? |
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Pete9077 Posts: 26 |
posted 01-05-2011 01:25 PM
  
[26-2095] This piece has a crescent and a crown which I understand means it was made in Germany. If that is correct, there must be a story about why an Italian piece was made in Germany. Does anyone know what that story is? Also, I assume that JW is a makers mark - is that correct? Does anyone know the name of the maker? I have another Italian souvenir spoon with a crescent and crown, so it must not be terribly uncommon. Thanks for any help! ------------------ IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 01-06-2011 08:16 AM
Imports and exports have been around for thousands of years. This looks like it is simply a case where an Italian company that wanted to sell souvenir spoons made a business decision to buy their stock from a company in Germany - likely because the German company was selling a nice design that they would customize for the Italian company for a low price. It happens all the time and is still common today. IP: Logged |
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Pete9077 Posts: 26 |
posted 01-06-2011 09:54 AM
okay - thanks. I have searched for the maker's mark "JW" and have not found it listed anywhere.....if anyone knows anything about it, I would appreciate hearing. IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 01-06-2011 12:15 PM
Most such spoons--depicting non-U.S. locations, circa 1900-1920s, of fairly nice quality, with enamel bowls and or handles--appear to have been made in Germany, where there must have been a concentrated area of this industry. Most are continental souvenirs, but sometimes one sees Central and South American locales. Stylistically, they are very German, regardless of the souvenir location. The most common feature shields and or buildings and landmarks. Rarer are the portrait bowl spoons. Some of the best German souvenir spoons include fine jugendstil designs, gemstones, strange designs, moving parts, etc. By the way, the crown & crescent mark was only used after 1888 on German silver. IP: Logged |
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Pete9077 Posts: 26 |
posted 01-06-2011 02:20 PM
Thank you, Paul. I have more than one of these spoons with maker's marks I cannot identify. This one, of course is "JW" and another is "X"!! IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 01-07-2011 08:31 AM
The letters may not be maker's marks, they could just as easily be retailer's or wholesaler's marks. This becomes more likely if you find spoons that appear to have been made by the same company but with different letters. IP: Logged |
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Pete9077 Posts: 26 |
posted 01-07-2011 12:17 PM
Thanks, Kimmo - I can understand that. What I do not exactly understand is that if the only other marks are 800 and a crescent and a crown.....what do you look for to tell whether they were made by the same company? Similar style? IP: Logged |
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dragonflywink Posts: 993 |
posted 01-07-2011 08:29 PM
Technically, German silver should be marked with the fineness, crescent & crown, and the maker's mark - but since there was no real regulation, the marks were often incomplete. Your pics are a bit too small and fuzzy for me to see, but the initials are most likely the manufacturer's mark rather than retailer, and so far as I know, the numerous firms that produced these seem to remain unidentified. One of the most prolific used the letters "KFK", and as with many of the other marks, I've seen them on souvenir spoons from several European countries (especially Italy, Switzerland and Austria), as well as a good number from Egypt and other more exotic locations; some are simply marked "800", but as Paul noted, they are unmistakably German. Have even run across a couple from U.S. locations - also quite a few enameled Norwegian spoons by both Marius Hammer and David-Andersen from as early as the 1890s, either designed or engraved for the U.S. market. Became pretty common for mid 20th century+ U.S. souvenir spoons to be imports..... Have often wondered, given the fine quality of many of the German enameled spoons, if they might have been a sideline of the some of the hundreds of jewelry factories in Pforzheim. Here's an 1893 Jewelers' Circular ad for Martin Mayer of Mainz, mentioning souvenir spoons as well as additional factories in Pforzheim and Florence, Italy. An article on Germany's Jewelers at the Fair in the same issue says the Florence factory produced mosaics and cut-silver, and enameled jewelry at Pforzheim: ~Cheryl IP: Logged |
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Pete9077 Posts: 26 |
posted 01-08-2011 07:35 AM
Thank you, Cheryl. IP: Logged |
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