Strawberry Forks from 1658

[troedelecke]

Hello everyone
new in the forum
Recently purchased 2 Strawberry Forks dated 1658
but unable to find the Provenance

would be thankful if someone let me know the origin of these two
Best regards

[troedelecke]

[legrandmogol]

These fun forks are Italian and actually date to the last part of the 19th century or first part of the 20th. The bottom mark is the optional Italian silver mark in use from 1872 to 1934 for 800/1000 purity silver. I believe the other marks are pseudo marks designed to mimic older style marks. The 1658 stamping could mean something other than a year or just be added to fool people.

[dognose]

The style of the pieces is much in the form of a Spadinn.

See: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13146&p=29274&hilit=hair#p29274

Trev.

[legrandmogol]

I have also seen this style of handle from this era and from Italy on short spoons but described as a 'lovers spoon'. I can find no information to back that up though. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about such things.