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Hello!
I have an Austro-Hungarian spoon, made in Vienna in the years 1872-1922. Maybe someone knows who is the maker "FB" and what it means the two-headed eagle?
Thanks in advance.

The FB mark is that of Franz Bibus, whose factory was in Moravská Třebová. Please have a look at the mark in the Dianakopf; some of the pieces of his which I have are marked A2 (for Moravská Třebová) rather than the usual Vienna mark, although I do not see that from your photograph. (Other times the pieces were assayed in Prague, and marked with a C.) It was a large company, with 200 employees, and they might well have had a branch in Vienna--but that is merely a guess on my part. Perhaps someone can "confirm or deny" it :-)

The mark with the double eagle shows that he was a purveyor to the imperial court. If we can find out when the company was awarded the designation, that might help date your piece.

Hi joris!
Thank you very much for your reply! I didn't know that "A2" is Moravská Třebová mark.



Then it's really Franz Bibus! But I looked the topics
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10769&p=67080&hilit=franz+bibus#p67080
viewtopic.php?t=7139&highlight=bibus
and I read some Czech articles about Bibus but I didn't find any information that he was the supplier of the imperial court. Perhaps, the double-headed eagle mark is a fake?

Best regards. Alex.

I don't know when or whether Bibus was named court purveyor, either. The first forum topic you list had a description by "MLF" which included the Doppeladler mark as well. The images unfortunately are gone, but the mark will have had the same meaning. Since the mark appears on other pieces than your spoon, you probably do not have to worry that it is a fake. It would be interesting to know the dates, though--obviously before 1918!

There was a post not long ago by one of our contributors here, dolpheus, who mentioned that the A2 mark was used for Moravská Třebová, and not only for St. Pölten. Please have a look here:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=25867&p=64453&hilit=T%C5%99ebov%C3%A1%E2%80%A6#p64453

I had always been a bit puzzled as to why an item made in Bohemia would be assayed in St. Pölten, and dolpheus solved the mystery for us.