Postby blakstone » Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:18 am
The first spoon is indeed Norwegian and from Trondheim. The maker “BBD” is Benjamin Blostrup Dreier (1780-1856), master 1810 & citizen 1811; “12Lo” is the fineness of 12 lot, or .750.
The second spoon, however, is Danish. The three towers are from the Copenhagen civic arms, and the numbers underneath represent the date of assay (and thus usually of manufacture). I can’t make them out in the photo, but I do recognize the “RH” assayer’s mark of Peter Reimer Hinnerup, working 1840-1863. The maker “PRAHL” is Samuel Jacob Nicolai Prahl (1800-1885), citizen 1825, though this mark is usually attributed to his son and successor, Jacob Samuel Prahl (1824-1891), citizen 1862.
Refs:
Thorvald Krohn-Hansen, Trondhjems Gullsmedkunst, 1550-1850, (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1963), p. 162, maker #26.
Christian A. Bøje, Danske guld og sølvsmedemærker før 1870 (Copenhagen: Arnold Busck, 1946) pp. 133 & 158, mark 1167.