Teaspoons - Unknown mark - I'm guessing these are Asian

[kathleenc]

I have prowled through the library of marks and I'm guessing these are Asian because of the number 90 in the mark on these spoons - the only place I saw that was in the list of Chinese Export marks. Otherwise I have no clue where these were made, by whom or when and would appreciate an opinion. (When I got these I was told they thought they were Russian - but the marks don't look like anything I could see in the Russian index.)

Thank you for any assistance you can give me.

KathleenC

[kathleenc]

This might be a mis-direction and I apologize if it is - but I have found a reference to an "ZS" silver hallmark as being from Sweden.

Two makers are listed on the SWEDAC website as using ZS: "Z. S. Formgivning" (1993-1994) and "Schnierer Zoltan" (1994-1995) both are listed as Skåneg 53 A, Stockholm, Sweden

I am not able to locate a picture of their hallmark to find out if this is correct or not - and I apologize again if I'm completely "off the mark" with this. Any help is greatly appreciated.

KathleenC.

[dragonflywink]

European silverplate, from the style, most likely Dutch. The 90 refers to the amount of plating, not 90% silver.

~Cheryl

[admin]

Agree with Cheryl on all counts, the handle form and decoration are traditionally Dutch. I've seen many silver examples, usually dating to the 2nd half of the 19th century, yours is the first silverplate example I've ever seen.

Regards, Tom

[dragonflywink]

Ran across a set of coffee spoons like these not too long ago - pretty but die-stamped rather than engraved. Suspect fairly recent manufacture.

~Cheryl

[admin]

Found them - Zilverstad Schoonhoven - recently or still in business. If you search
Marktplaats.nl, the Dutch online auction service, you'll find the matching fork.
Regards, Tom

[kathleenc]

Thank you Cheryl!

Thank you Tom!

I am overwhelmed at the depth of your knowledge and astonished at your ability to hunt down the answer.

The maker is Zilverstad Schoonhoven located in the city of Schoonhoven, Netherlands (in south Holland). I can't find out if they are still in business but I would guess that they are. I even found out that the pattern of this spoon is called Biedermeier.

I found this interesting bit on Wikipedia - "Schoonhoven is renowned for its silver, hence it is nicknamed Zilverstad ("Silver City"). Since the 17th century silver smiths have already been present here.. Schoonhoven is home of the International Silver School."

From Wikipedia I chased off to the city's website (ngzkm.nl) and found this interesting bit of history.

Schoonhoven is called the Silvertown because of its silver industry. In 1375 the lord of Schoonhoven decided that a silversmith should work in the town. The number of silversmiths increased over the years. In particular, the small silver work that was found in the 18th and 19th centuries is typical of the products that came from Schoonhoven. Even today many people are employed by the silver industry, but not as many as in previous years due to a dramatic increase in the price of silver in the eighties.

This is all very, very, interesting to find out.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

KathleenC.

[Doos]

Hi,

I should have recognized the mark as I lived there for 4 years.
They still excist: http://www.zilverstad.nl/cms/publish/co ... themeid=18

The primary gold-silversmithing school is in Schoonhoven and although there are not as many smiths working there as in earlier times, for such a small town it has a high density of gold-and silversmiths.
Beautiful little town that is worth the visit.