Pair of Antique European Solid Silver Figural Marriage Spoons
Superb quality, antique European pair of solid silver marriage spoons. The spoons have a deep oval bowl with an elaborate stem. The front and back of the stems are finely hand-chiseled and engraved, and the finials are in the form of a 17th-century bust of a woman. The quality of the spoons is superb, and they are in excellent condition.
The stem's lower part bears a heraldic shield with the date 1625. The backs of the shields are adorned with mascarons. These spoons are exquisitely hand-chiseled and engraved, and the quality of the work is superior to that found on jewelry.
Creating these spoons was a time-consuming and expensive process executed by a skilled goldsmith artist, resulting in exquisite works of art.
MEASUREMENTS: Overall length of the spoon: 15.6 cm (6.14 inches).
WEIGHT: total weight of two spoons: 96 grams.
The spoons have hallmarks on them, but what they represent is unclear. One of the spoons has two hallmarks on the back of the bowl - crossed swords and the number "13" (Loth) topped by the letter "H." The second spoon has two crossed swords on the back of the bowl, with the number "13" (Loth) stamped at the bottom, covering the lower part of the blade. The third hallmark of this spoon shows an animal, possibly a horse.
We could not identify the origin of these silver spoons as we could not find the corresponding silver hallmarks in any reference books on silver marks. It is worth noting that 13 "loth" represents 812/1000 silver purity and was commonly used in Germany, Austria, Poland, and Hungary.