Interesting dessert knife with difficult poor maker's mark

[SilverK]

I have this interesting dessert / fruit knife (just 16.5 cm long) which I think is probably 18th century and probably Dutch, but with an extremely unclear maker’s mark. The dolphin / fish mark suggests post 1859, but this doesn’t seem right to me and is probably one of those occasions where it has been stamped incorrectly on an earlier object. By the way, that's a dog on the top.

Any help from the forum to identify it more closely would be much appreciated:

- Firstly, is anyone able to give me more information about this type of knife, confirm which country and roughly when it might have been made?

- Secondly, identification of the handle maker and the cutler. The maker’s mark is extremely difficult to see, even from the item in the flesh. What I’m showing on the forum is the best result I can get. It looks like the silversmith’s mark might start with B, R or P and then a Z or even a 7 !!

[oel]

HI SilverK,

These 'pistol' grip knifes & forks originated in the 18th century; round handle with a typical Dutch decoration of: acanthus leaves, shell decors and scrolls and scenes with an animal figure/horse and rider finial.Copies are still made today.

Your Dutch knife, looking at the maker's mark, has been made in the 19th century. I will try to identify the maker's mark, something like P or R 78(?) in a square shield.
The Dutch dolphin mark; the 1859 duty mark for new unguaranteed objects of national origin. This mark was used on all new silver objects below legal standard of fineness, those with non-precious metal additions, and on new heavily gold or silver plated objects, as long as the average precious metal content after melting with the base metal was at least 250/1000. It was also struck on rejected objects which had been submitted at lowest standard of fineness. In that case the maker had to choose between destruction or unguaranteed marking. This mark was sometimes also mistakenly used on old and foreign objects. Dolphin mark used from 1859-1893 and valid from 1859 till 1953.

Also see:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=38546&p=105170&hilit=pistol+grip+knife#p105170

Oel.

[oel]

Hi,

Your maker's mark, to me, appears to read P71 in a square shield for; Dirk Pelt, Registered in Schoonhoven with this particular mark 1841/1855. Dirk Pelt died in 1855, 37 years old, after which his widow 34 years old (with two young children) continued their shop for another year. I will see if I can dig up some extra information.


Best,

Oel.

[SilverK]

Thank you oel for your responses. It's disappointing that this is 19th, instead of 18th century, and mid-century at that! Any further information would be useful, but please don't spend too much time; I'm grateful for your input already.