Silver spoon. Silver stamp "W" with crown. Germany?

[serafim]

Good day! Maybe someone knows - where is it made and who is the master?

[Sasropakis]

The town mark could be for Vyborg [Wiburg(de), Viborg(sv), Viipuri(fi)] which is nowadays part of Russia but originally a Finnish/Swedish town. During the 18th century Vyborg was part of the Russian empire but silver from that period is usually categorized as Finnish and included in books about Finnish silver. Silver items made in Vyborg in the 18th century had usually only town mark and maker's mark. The maker's mark is very worn but if could be CCF for Carl Christian Forsman (1753-97). But if it's something else then the attribution to Vyborg might be problematic.

[serafim]

The town mark could be for Vyborg [Wiburg(de), Viborg(sv), Viipuri(fi)] which is nowadays part of Russia but originally a Finnish/Swedish town. During the 18th century Vyborg was part of the Russian empire but silver from that period is usually categorized as Finnish and included in books about Finnish silver. Silver items made in Vyborg in the 18th century had usually only town mark and maker's mark. The maker's mark is very worn but if could be CCF for Carl Christian Forsman (1753-97). But if it's something else then the attribution to Vyborg might be problematic.

Thank you very much!

[Qrt.S]

Yes, it could be CC. Forssman from the former Finnish town Viborg (lost in WW II) on the Carelian Isthmus). Forssman's mark is known to be CC.F or C.C.F in a square shield. He is know to have made spoons (with or without fiddle stems) among other objects. The stem on this spoon (rococo) is rather typical for Viborg for this period. Anyway, I am not absolutely sure of the maker. If somebody wonders why there is no fineness mark, the explanation is that Viborg masters rather seldom punched the fineness mark on their objects. That talks for Viborg too, but....?

[AG2012]

Very unfortunately, we are discussing a Finnish town Viipuri , a victim of geopolitical turmoils and occupations.
Lest we forget.

[Sasropakis]

"Viipurin hopeat" (Vyborg's silverware) by Marketta Tamminen shows some pictures of spoons by Henrik Petman and C.C.Forsman (p.103-104). The marks in Petman's spoons are placed similarly than in the spoon in question so it could be typical for Vyborg. But on the other hand the spoon by Forsman has marks in the stem. Of course the location of the marks doesn't necessarily mean anything but it would be intriguing if the spoon would be made in Vyborg. Too bad that the maker's mark is so worn.

[Qrt.S]

#Sasropakis
Mind my asking, but what has Henrik Petman to do with this spoon? His mark is a combined HP while on this spoon is if not clearly but somehow seen CCF?

#AG2012
Yes the Finnish name is Viipuri. Let's not confuse the readers. However, this is an international site and Viipuri is internationally known as VIborg or Wyborg.
BTW.
In Denmark there is also a town called Viborg, located in Midjylland. Irrespective of the same name there is no connection between Viborg in Finland and Viborg in Denmark!

[Sasropakis]

#Qrt.S

Petman doesn't have that much to do with this spoon except there were some pictures of his spoons in the mentioned book. The marks in those were placed similarly on the front side of the spoon near the finial and next to eachother which is a somewhat unusual place. So I was just wondering if this was a practice used in Vyborg.

[Qrt.S]

OK so be it, but in those days was the front side actually the back side because when the table was set the spoons were set upside-down as we see it today. The reason for that was to avoid having "bugs" or dirt possibly dropping from the ceiling in the spoon and flavor the dish with an unwanted taste :-)))))). Therefore the spoons were set "upside-down".

The spoon is most likely from Viborg! In those days the Carelian Isthmus it was a "part" of Sweden and was called Old Finland. In the peace treaty of 1809 (Sweden-Russia) it became a part of Russia until 1812 when it was detached from Russia and joined to Grand Duchy Finland. This is also partly the reason why the masters in Viborg didn't mark their work with Finnish marks but kept their own marking system to about 1939. Anyway, out of topic now. Oh tempora oh mores! I think we can all agree on the result.