www.925-1000.com

The NIROSTA on the blade refers to the maker of the stainless steel blade: ThyssenKrupp. The name applies only to the blade. The handle is silver plate (90).

This pattern was designed for WMF by Albert Mayer ca. 1905. Before 1913/14 (WWI) it was known as Modell No. 26; after the war, it was re-introduced as Modell No. 1000. The pattern is also known as "Empire," for its neoclassical style. WMF introduced a modernized version, also called, "...

By size and shape, your item is most likely a spoon tray... ~Cheryl That was my first thought because I've seen many of these "spoon baskets" in my collection of vintage WMF catalogs. My question is: how is a spoon tray used? Is it intended simply to carry spoons to the table? To hold spo...

Do we have any reference from WMF that actually defines "Alpaca" as their "base metal"? Yes, but they're more likely to call it Neusilber or Argentan. I don't believe I said it was the base metal for everything; it was mostly the base for silver-plated flatware. I have old catal...

The style of the bag also indicates the 1920's. These "frame" bags, with cloth or especially beaded "pouches," were very popular with "flappers." Frame bags are popular to this day, but the style of the frame and pouch had changed by the 1930s. Try an online image searc...

Just to clarify... Alpaca wasn't the plating medium, it was the base metal. The plating was silver. In the 1906 catalog, the designations were "I/O" (normal thickness) and "O" (50% thicker than normal). By the 1925/26 musterbuch, they were using 40, 60, and 90 to indicate thickne...

Among the vintage WMF catalogs I have (viz., 1898, 1906, 1911, 1925/26, 1938), only the 1925/26 musterbook included handbags.

For much/most of WMF's silver plated (versilbert) flatware, alpaka was the base metal. I'm personally aware of at least one big advantage to using alpaka: when the silver plating starts wearing off, this silverish base metal is not nearly as obvious as brass. I can also personally attest to the fact...

Your handbag appears to be this one from WMF's 1925/26 Musterbuch (pattern book), on page 386:

"N" stands for "neusilber" (nickel silver), a.k.a., alpaka or alpaca, an alloy of copper, nickel, and sometimes zinc. Alpaka was the base metal for most of WMF silver-plated flatware. "O" stands for silverplating 50% thicker than the normal, "I/O."

P.S. During both World Wars, WMF ceased domestic production and switched to military production.

As mentioned earlier, WMF Modell No. 2200 was designed in 1930 by Kurt and Albert Mayer. It was in production from 1931 into the 1980s as one of WMF's most popular patterns. The base metal was Alpaka.

Could it be a stopper for some very large jug or pitcher?

I believe the "cut out" on the rim of the glass was not for pouring, but was to allow the lid to sit level with the spoon inside. Most condiment/jam jars have the cut out in the lid. If you search the web on "condiment jar lid spoon," you'll find some, like this one, with the cut...

It looks to me like a "porringer." They were often given as Christening gifts.

This pattern appears on p. 20 of the Christofle (1914) catalog, Couverts et Orfevrerie Argentés, as Modèle No. 5208, "Louis XVI, Rubans Croisés." (It is similar to, but not the same as, Modèle No. 5307, "Louis XVI, Filets & Rubans," on p. 28 of the same catalog.)

Interesting. If my memory serves me, methods using mercury aren't even legal anymore, the effects of mercury being so devastating. And to think when I was a child, we used to like to break mercury thermometers, so we could play with the mercury, rolling it around on the palms of our hands. No wonder...

Thank you for the clarification.

P.S. WMF didn't start naming their patterns until after WWII. Before then, everything just had Modell numbers.

The "sp on b" is not a WMF mark. It appears to mean, in English, "silver-plate on brass."

I found your piece in WMF's 1937 "Versilberte Metallwaren Musterbuch." It's item #15108 on p. 107: http://20thCenturyRedux.com/WMF/images/WMF_1937_Korbe_15108.jpg In the legend, it's called a "Körbe mit Kugelfüssen," which translates to "basket with ball feet." It's sel...