Assistance with the maker of Estonian Silver Spoon IEK

[dartsil]

I wonder if anyone can assist with the maker of this Estonian spoon.

It carries the key and cross mark of Parnu as well as a makers mark IEK, IE over K. The pinprick engraving to the rear of stem shows it was a gift to a ships captain presented by the firm of ship owners Heinrich Harder & Co in 1819.

[Ubaranda]

Hello!
The maker is Johann Ernst Krüger. Information from A.Leistikow "Baltisches Silber".
Regards.

[dartsil]

Many thanks for your assistance, much appreciated

[Scotrab]

Good afternoon,

As already indicated by Ubaranda, the maker of your spoon is Johann Ernst Krüger, originally from the Baltic city of Wismar in Mecklenburg. He was active between 1767 and 1796.

The merchant house of H. Harder & Co. was active from the early years of 1800: in 1811 they advertised that they could supply "Small and large quantities of flour from Moscow", apparently of particularly desirable quality. They were still active around 1840. They were not as large or well-known as the merchant houses of H. D. Schmidt & Co. and J. Jacke & Co. but they owned and operated three ships (FLORA, SUCCURS, DER JUNGE HEINRICH). H. Harder & Co. were also involved in a lawsuit regading non-payment of a sum of money advanced by H. Harder to the skipper of a ship in port.

The spoon is interesting because it was given to a captain in 1812, well after the death of the maker. Usually, captain's spoons were made in the same year in which they were given, or a little earlier. The difference of 16 years is unusual: obviously H. Harder & Co. "recycled" this spoon!

Regards,

[dognose]

Hi Ubaranda and Scotrab,

I see the engraved date as 1819. Such a gap between the death of Johann Ernst Krüger and the presentation does indeed appear odd. Could it be that his widow continued the business under the same name?

Trev.

[Scotrab]

A good question...

It is quite possible that his widow continued the business, but in the references available to me ( A. Leistikow, Baltisches Silber, 1996; K. Kirme, Eesti Hobe, 2000; A. Reinans, Hobedamärgid Eestis, 2005) there's no mention of it. I think furthermore that all three authors took their information from W. Neumann, Verzeichnis baltischer Goldschmiede, ihrer Merkzeichen und Werke, 1905 and he does not indicate anything in this respect either. There *may* be more information in various documents in the Estonian Historical Archives, I have, however, some doubts: Dr. W. Neumann compiled his list from contemporary documents before all the upheavals of revolutions and world wars, and he doesn't mention J. E. Krüger's widow or anything more than what was indicated by the more recent authors.

I have looked in H. Laakmann's Das Bürgerbuch von Pernau 1787-1889 and I have not found any reference to J. E. Krüger or his widow. This book is, however, the second volume and there may be something in the first volume, not available to me. In this second volume I have found several references to various members of the Harder family, all merchants, for the sake of completeness.

Robert

[Scotrab]

Trev is right, I misread the date: it is 1819. It changes, however, very little to the issue of the time difference between dates of making and presetation.

Robert

[dognose]

Hi Robert,

Many thanks for adding the further information. It is indeed a mystery.

Trev.

[dartsil]

Thanks to everyone for there comments, as ever most appreciated.