HELP! Silver Enamel Spoon Set

[deemltd]

I recently acquired a set of silver enamel spoons. They're gorgeous and the marks are very clear, it's just a matter of interpreting them now! I'd love to do some more research and find more of these lovelies, please help! :)

The mark:
http://imageshack.us/a/img442/7271/scre ... 4at154.png

The spoon:
http://imageshack.us/a/img89/2455/img0940t.jpg

Thank you,
Jane.

[dognose]

Hi Jane,

The marks are Finnish. Firstly the 'crown' is the National mark, secondly, the '916H' indicates the minimum purity 916/1000, the 'H' is for Hopea, silver in Finnish, thirdly, the canoe mark of Helsinki, and lastly 'V6' is the date indicator for 1950.

See: http://www.925-1000.com/Ffinland_Date_Code.html

Trev.

[Qrt.S]

Nice doing dognose :-))))

I can add that the mocca spoons are made by Tillander Oy a very well known jewellery company. The company was founded by a Finn, Alexander Tillander in St Petersburg (a competitor to Fabergé) in 1862. Alexander Tillander sr. was murdered by the bolsheviks but his son Alexander jr. escaped to Finland and reestablished the company in Helsinki and it is still up and running. The enameling technique is called guilloché. You can find more spoons on the market. Look here http://www.tillander.fi/home/"

[Zolotnik]

Hi Qrt.s -
a little correction: what we see here on the spoon is émail champlevé over a guilloched ground and not émail cloisonné (the thing with the wires!).

Regards
Zolotnik

[oel]

Perhaps we could call it; Guilloche (decorative engraving technique work) with enamel.

Regards,

Oel

[Qrt.S]

My good man, champlevé!? Not in a million years, kindly take a new look and revise your statement. More obvious guilloché enamel does not exist. dear Zolotnik. Here is a picture of a similar spoon from my collection. Note that there are no cells and no walls like in cloisonnée and champlevé. In the guilloché technique the pattern is engraved in the bottom after which it is covered with translucent enamel.

[SirWatkynBassett]

Hello,

Champlevé, certainly not, but is it Guilloche? Surely this is Basse Taille work.

Bassett

[Qrt.S]

The easiest way to find out the techniques is to check it from Tillander. I will do that and revert to this matter asap.

Have patience

Qrt.S

[deemltd]

Wow thanks for all the replies, a lot of interesting information! :)

But look, I found another mark (maker mark?) on one of the spoons that was apparently rubbed off of all the others. Tried to get a good photo of it, perhaps it will shed some light on who the maker is?

Mark:
http://imageshack.us/a/img145/9546/scre ... 5at314.png

Spoon:
http://imageshack.us/a/img707/7483/img0947gk.jpg

[dognose]

Hi Qrt.S,

Is it Tillander for sure?

These are the only marks that I can find. But were there others?







Regards, Trev.

[Qrt.S]

Hello Trev,

Yes it is Tillander and there is no doubt about that. Here are some more marks used by Tillander.


Koruteollisuus Tillander Oy Helsinki 1946-1976. This mark is usually on older spoons like this.


Kunniamerkkitehdas 1941-1945 (Medal factory owned by Tillander)


Ato-Koru Oy (owned by Tillander) 1960-1971


Oy Alexander Tillander Ab 1993-


The next marks are ordinary "letter marks":

AT. or A.TILLANDER for Alexander Tillander 1921-
AT or A.T. for Tillander A. Ab Oy 1980-82
ATILLANDER or A. TILLANDER for Alexander Tillander Ab Oy 2008-
VL for Tillander/Lindman 1918-1921

The last one is the oldest and the mark for the new start in Finland in cooperation with Viktor Lindman.

[Qrt.S]

While I was writing a new input was made. There you can see one of the shown marks. I also got in phone call from Tillander where they verified that guilloché technique is used. Actually on the guillochéd surface enamel is applied.

[dognose]

Hi Qrt.S,

Many thanks for the added information. It's been a very interesting topic.

Regards Trev.

[SirWatkynBassett]

Hello Qrt.S,

Thank you for obtaining the clarifiaction. I had previously thought the Guilloche method was the application of emamel over an engine turned surface. There's always something new to learn.

Bassett

[Aguest]

I found an example of this Tillander spoon with yellow guilloche enamel and a date of "Y7" which is 1976 and it has the "common control mark" of the two scales with "925" in-between the scales, so the silver fineness has increased to 925, perhaps in order to comply with the new laws which govern this new "common control mark?"

It is a beautiful spoon indeed, and it bears the "AT" in a diamond hallmark, a complete match for Tillander!