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Special Features
While the Germans did create many highly interesting
patterns in the 19th and 20th century from master
silversmiths (See Das Deutsche Silber-Besteck- Reinhard
Sanger) this material is seen so rarely on this side of
the pond that it would be nearly impossible to put
together a place setting one piece at a time. Therefore
the American collector looking to add a German place
setting to his/her collection might be advised to stick
to the more classic patterns made by a number of
manufacturers. Fiddlethread would be a good choice
since it was produced throughout the 19th century and
still enjoys followers today.
Dating
Dating German Silver, is more detective work than say
Russian or British where the date codes are clearly
defined. Useful references for the clues are Weyler,
"The Book of Old Silver" (ref 6) and Tardy's
International Hallmarks on Silver.
The Spoon and forks were by two different manufacturers
and thus will be discussed individually:
Tablespoon:
The "Reichsmark" consisting of the
crescent moon, and crown along with the 800 indicate
that the spoon conformed to the act of 1884 for pieces
of 800 fine or better. The eagle is actually a
throwback to the 18th century for Frankfort an Main and
may indicate that this was a 19th century "revival" of
this 18th century pattern. The maker mark is Heisler
for whom I cannot find a reference.
Dinner Fork:
Here the quality stamp is a "12"
which indicates 12/16 purity or 750, thus the
Reichsmark was not used. Bohrmann was a firm founded in
1865.
From the information presented my dating expert Andrew
Katz of Windham Appraisel services places these as late
19th century.
Pieces Available
The standard German place setting is only three pieces-
Tablespoon, Dinner Fork, Teaspoon.
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Size
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My Cost
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Notes
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| Tablespoon |
8 1/2" |
$30-$50 |
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| Dinner Fork |
8" |
$30-$40 |
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| Luncheon Fork |
7" |
$25-$50 |
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Other Pieces Available?
Certainly teaspoons and dessert spoons exist.
Sanger shows that unlike the British system where
knives were made separately, the Germans made
knives of their patterns back into the early
1800's. I have not seen salad forks used in 19th
century German patterns.
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click on image to enlarge
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Key Pieces
Knives would be the most
challenging, while the dessert spoons/forks are likely
scarcer than the dinner forks and were not used in all
place settings.
Comments
German place settings are an
interesting and challenging addition to ones'
collection.
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