Miles
Arts & Crafts Spoon, ZAG Maker
Arts & Crafts Spoon, ZAG Maker
I don't have much of an idea where this spoon was made. Could be British, could be American, could be quite a few places. However, the work is quite distinctive, as is the maker's mark: ZAG. Does anybody have any ideas?
Miles
Miles
Re: Arts & Crafts Spoon, ZAG Maker
Hi Miles
Interesting spoon - any idea as to the length and as to what wood the handle is made from.
I have nothing to offer but pure conjecture - actually it's probably a real flight of fancy.
There was a South African Guild (or Suid Afrikaanse Gild) of silversmiths which stamped there silver SAG in a straight rectangular cartouche - they made the predictable pieces you would expect in the deco style - machined napkin rings, tot measures, card cases, Christening cups etc. I have seen the mark although I don't have a piece on hand to show it. I don't even now much about their history. But could this collective not have had an earlier working life pre the formation of South Africa in 1910 - in the old Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (Transvaal) and have been called the Zuid Afrikaanse Gild (Zuid the more correct Dutch as opposed to Suid which is Afrikaans). The Kruger mint was opened in Pretoria in 1892 and closed by the British in the Boer War in 1900. I think very little silver would have been made during the Boer war, so maybe, just maybe and early Transvaal piece. It certainly would fit the period style wise.
The wood could also be tambouti or mboyna - two woods African craftsman of the Limpopo region use for carvings because of their delightful and unpredictable two-tone color.
Done a quick search on line and found nothing to back any of this up. And nothing in Weltz to suggest any silver was being made in the transvaal.
Anyway - an attractive spoon
Regards Frank
Interesting spoon - any idea as to the length and as to what wood the handle is made from.
I have nothing to offer but pure conjecture - actually it's probably a real flight of fancy.
There was a South African Guild (or Suid Afrikaanse Gild) of silversmiths which stamped there silver SAG in a straight rectangular cartouche - they made the predictable pieces you would expect in the deco style - machined napkin rings, tot measures, card cases, Christening cups etc. I have seen the mark although I don't have a piece on hand to show it. I don't even now much about their history. But could this collective not have had an earlier working life pre the formation of South Africa in 1910 - in the old Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (Transvaal) and have been called the Zuid Afrikaanse Gild (Zuid the more correct Dutch as opposed to Suid which is Afrikaans). The Kruger mint was opened in Pretoria in 1892 and closed by the British in the Boer War in 1900. I think very little silver would have been made during the Boer war, so maybe, just maybe and early Transvaal piece. It certainly would fit the period style wise.
The wood could also be tambouti or mboyna - two woods African craftsman of the Limpopo region use for carvings because of their delightful and unpredictable two-tone color.
Done a quick search on line and found nothing to back any of this up. And nothing in Weltz to suggest any silver was being made in the transvaal.
Anyway - an attractive spoon
Regards Frank
Re: Arts & Crafts Spoon, ZAG Maker
Hi Frank,
Thank you for your reply. It's certainly an area to look into and more promising than any other idea I've had.
The spoon is 12cm long and the handle looks like bamboo, but I'm not sure.
Miles
Thank you for your reply. It's certainly an area to look into and more promising than any other idea I've had.
The spoon is 12cm long and the handle looks like bamboo, but I'm not sure.
Miles
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