Russian / German Spoons? 19th Century

[dougatacn]

Looking for any hints on these spoons.    Looks to be German writing but my searches come up with Russian matching.

Let me know if you have any clues!

Thanks!
Doug

[mart]

Can`t read the two words in the center but the rest is English !!  Samuel & Fanny Dreyfus,,Rosa & Bernard 1882 !!  Anything else written anywhere ??  Are there hallmarks  on these ?? Would be easier if we could see the hallmarks !!
There was a Samuel Dreyfus born in Connecticut in 1882,,His parents were Jacob & Fannie !!  Fannie can be spelled either way and is not unusual to find different spellings in old birth records !!  Not sure why both names are on the red label/tag !!
What did you search for that was Russian ??  I am not getting anything like that !!

This is not a cheap set !!  Where did you get it ??   Bought, inherited or what ??

[dougatacn]

Thanks for the reply!

So the Russian was a suggestion from my mother after searching the internet.    She said they matched some 'russian imperial' spoons.   But that was simply a guess.

These were found in my wife's grandfathers basement.  He buys 'interesting looking' things for fun!

The cursive on the red patch says "Ihren Kindern" which appears to mean "Their Children"

The front cover says "ZUR Erinnerung am 12 July 1882, which appears to be in memory of.

A few more pictures added below:

[mart]

OK !! That makes sense,,German, but what we need to know is who made the set !! Look for tiny hallmarks stamped into the metal somewhere !!  May need a magnifying glass to see them !!

[dougatacn]

oK, will check and let you know.     This will take a day or so in that I don't have the set.   Will reply once I have the answer!

[dougatacn]

*update, have one pic.    This is the best I can do via pic as I am no longer up in KY to check it out myself.

I can't quite make out what is on the back.     RDD GD?

[KC]

Its a boxed silver ice cream/dessert set.  Very collectible!  Typically from late 1800's to early 1900's.

Would need to know if it is coin silver, silverplate or sterling!  (Makes a big difference in value!)

Would love to know the maker!

[mart]

There must be other marks somwhere !!  I have found nothing that corresponds to those initials in any country !!

[dougatacn]

Thanks for the response all!

I'll reply once I get another chance to take a look at these (a week or two!)

Doug

[mart]

If possible post while you are there !!  That way if there are any questions you will have them in hand !!  We will wait for your reply !!

[dougatacn]

One quick update from my wife's grandpa (he is excited about the origins).   I'll still post when I see them next as well.  I do remember looking at the markings and having a hard time myself making out the letters.

"Dad just called and said on the back of the BIG spoon he can for sure make out the last few letters. The last 2 are GD and there is a space before the G with 3 letters/numbers before it. He said it looks like either an 8 or a B followed by either OC or DC. The small spoons also have either 8OC or 8DC on each one. He used a magnifying glass and he said the first few on the big spoon were kind of faded out. There is no marking for sterling silver so he is assuming it is a metal like silverplate."

[mart]

They may be worn but I bet the 8OC is 800 which is/was the sterling standard in some countries !!  I think Germany used the standard of 800 and 835 !! Our silver standard and many others is 925 !!  That simply means what ever the object is has at least 92.5 percent silver and the rest can be other metals !!
I did a search for 800 GD and found  an Alpaca (silverplate) punch bowl set with the GD but the owner couldn`t find anything about it either !!  I am wondering if its an assay mark !!

[dougatacn]

Awesome, thanks for all the help!

[mart]

When you get there,, see if that lining is attached to the box !!  Gently lift up and look under the lining top and bottom taking care that it doesn`t tear or rip !!  Sometimes there will be a piece of paper/tag ect that has the makers name inside the box !! Many times people would put it under the lining so it would not be lost or just for safekeeping !!  Maybe we will get lucky !!
If the lining is attached to the box don`t try to remove or loosen it !!

[KC]

I really doubt there is anything under the lining!  That wasn't/isn't a common practice.  The tag red label was a gift label.  (Wish they still did fancy ones like that today!  Would give more hints to origin, etc.)

This is common for Victorian boxed fine silver gifts.  I would encourage those with a magnifying glass to look again and see if the number 800 is there (like Mart might be 800 mark to signify the silver content).

The 800 was used in several countries.  As indicated on the site of http://www.925-1000.com/a_Standards.html these are the countries that have used the 800 mark

  .800  - Germany, Italy, France [2éme titre], Netherlands [until 1814], Poland, Portugal [current],
             Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, Japan, Romania, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon