Postby Bahner » Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:33 pm
Hello, when the German guilds were dissolved in the late 1850ies (if I remember exactly), some makers no longer had their pieces officially hallmarked, but simply punched their own maker’s mark and a number for the fineness (mostly 12 or 13 Lot, though a higher or lower fineness were also in use). In those cases it can be is difficult to identify the maker, unless he has a characteristic name or - as in this case - the piece is marked with an additional retailer’s mark. The maker here is the “D”, Adolph Gustav Diederich (also written: Dietrich), b. 1802, master in Berlin since 1830, d. 1858. His mark can be found on many pieces he made for other Berlin companies. Friedländer, as mentioned, was just the retailer of this piece. If it is ca. 13 - 15 cm long, then it is most likely a cream spoon (could also be a sugar spoon, not all sugar spoons had holes). Best wishes, Bahner