17th century spoon markings.

[paulh]

I have a number of 17th century Norwegian spoons which do not have a punched maker’s mark. They do however have distinctive scratched marks. They are all in a similar place on the spoons and seem to be some kind of identifying device. They are too regular to be marks of usage. They are difficult to photograph, so I have attached an enhanced image and a drawing of one example. Can anyone explain these marks?

[Aguest]

If all 4 spoons share the same scratched marks, do you think it's possible that that is actually a 2-letter monogram and the 2 letters are "Runes" or letters in the "Runic Alphabet" of which there were a few variations depending on specific locations in Scandinavia? ::: I am not an expert on runes, and I have never seen a spoon with a monogram using the Runic Alphabet, but I really don't know of what other conclusion to reach ::::

Possibly an expert on runes could tell you more about which runic alphabet is being used and from which region (Norway or Sweden or Other Region). :::

[paulh]

Thanks for your ideas. I did think about runes. Some of the other marks are more “runic” if that makes sense. That will be my next path to follow. I have seen these straight line devices on other Scandinavian and Baltic silver, but never been able to trace them.

[Sasropakis]

They might be house marks (bomärke in Swedish) which were used in Scandinavia to mark ownership of an item: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_mark
House marks might sometimes resemble runes but not necessarily because some other symbols could be used too (like crosses, arrows or even swastikas). As there are engraved initials in the spoon (probably for the original owners; a married couple in this case) my guess would be that the other marks were made by a later owner who wanted to mark that the spoon his now his but he didn't have proper engraving tools so the marks look like scratches.

[paulh]

Thanks Sasropakis . I have seem bumerke before. that seems to make sense.

[Qrt.S]

"Bumerke" is Norwegian and in Danish "bomærke". The only thing that might indicate Scandinavia are the engraved initials TIS and KLD. S for son and D for daughter. Anyway, in my eyes the spoon is in an almost pristine condition being so old, is it? Hate to say, but I have seen almost "similar" aged spoons in tourist shops. Moreover, the scratches can be/mean anything or nothing. Being runes is a rather long shot. Cannot recall seeing "engraved/scratched" runes on a spoon like this. Sorry my opinion only...

[paulh]

Thank you for your opinion Qrt.S

[mk209]

I have a circa 1640 spoon and that has marks in the bowl. I always thought these were religious markings as they usually consist of a cross and a single initial. Funny coincidence that the initials I’ve all seen fit with the initials of the Apostles. Make up your own mind and research to see if any of these initials don’t fit.....