A Curious Pair Of Spoons

[dognose]

Hi,

I was unsure which section to post this question, Far East is really the correct section, but the maker is clear. It could also be entered under Other Countries, as the history points to Denmark, but at the end of the day what I have, is to me, a mystery.
This is a pair of spoons, made by Zee Wo of Shanghai, probably about 1900, they are just under 8" in length, quite heavy at about 5oz. the pair and they are hand-made.
The inscriptions are in Danish (my thanks to hose_dk), one spoon has one inscription, the other, three. The one they both have (Soven Sovensen-B.D.D. 1715) has a slightly different position from the other, no doubt to the placing of the makers mark. One spoon has the further inscriptions J.S.s Fra M.A.D.K. 1802 and another N.A.S. A.M.M.D. Tv. 1856.
Why would a pair of spoons made in Shanghai have dates engraved in Danish nearly two hundred years earlier? My only thoughts are the possibility of a Danish family living in Shanghai at the turn of that century, (there was a huge European community at that time) having lost similar spoons, had them made up from memory using the skills of the Chinese Silversmiths who were well known for being able to reproduce just about anything.
I don't believe they were made to fool anybody about their age, not with such clear makers marks, so any thoughts would be appreciated.



Trev.
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[kerangoumar]

mice spoons. perhaps they are made to memorialize the people (someone's ancestors?) whose initials and dates are on the spoons
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[byron mac donald]

Hi Trev-

Just a thought, but if I am understanding you right; one spoon has the date of 1856 and 1802 on the reverse, and the other spoon is blank? if this is the case, could it be a birth and death date? From what I can tell on the internet both words "Soren and Sorensen" mean "asleep." Did Hose_Dk tell you what they mean in conjunction with each other?

I am kinda' into genealogy, so this would be my thoughts on them. Perhaps the person that had them made just never got around to having theirs engraved.

Regards- Byron
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[dognose]

Hi Kerangoumar and Byron,

Thanks for your response. I should have been a little clearer (the perils of late night posting!). Hose_dk explained to me that this appeared to be a family piece, the Danes have a system where the surname changes each generation, hopefully he will explain it, as it is a little complicated.
If it was to just to memorialize the ancestors, why does the engraving appear to be in the style of the dating?

Byron, just to confirm, both spoons have 1715 inscription on the backs of the handles and one one spoon only it has the 1802 inscription on the back of the finial and the 1856 one on the front of the finial.

Thanks for your imput.

Trev.
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[Hose_dk]

The name on the spoon is Søren Sørensen. He used an v where he should have used an r.
He also had a problem with ø - Danish letter, people tend to use \ instead of / or as in this case ó - the correct letter is ø

Dating back to - I dont know - 1.000 years i would say and up to late 1800 around 1900. The tradition was that a child son/daughter was named after his/her father.
Fathers first name Søren - son would have second name Sørenssøn where søn = son. The girl would be named Sørensdatter where datter=daughter.

In Norway same system in Sweden søn=son and datter=dotter

The son should also have a firstname - tradition was to step one generation backwards and use the name of the grandfather for firstname. Same tradition with a daughter using the names of grandparents. either grandfarther or grandmother. In case a grandfather was named Carl the grandchild (girl) could be named Caroline.
Generation 1 - 2 and 3:
Søren Carlssøn
Henrik Sørenssøn
Søren Henrikssøn
In silver engraving. SCS HSS SHS

Therefore we have weddings spoons etc. with initials man and vife.
SCS BDD - so we can relate to the 2 families.

As for the spoons - they could be early 1700 - everything is a match. Shape - initials. I am sure that a family it could be replace or they just wanted a full set.

J.S.s Fra M.A.D.K now it is an s and not an S - that proberly is related to the fact that the spoons are copies.
and the K could relate to a geographical location.
Maren AndersDatter Køge - a possibility but K could also be the name - nobody knows.
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[dognose]

Hi Hose_dk,

Thank you for your excellent clarification. I think the likelihood that a family had these made to make up a set, a very plausable explanation, and Shanghai at that time, was the ideal place to have this type of work executed.

Trev.
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