Help ID Makers Mark, Age, Material...German? Denmark?

[lmlliny]

The spoon is 8 1/2" long. I can't make out the marks: SBOS? ...CLSFN? It is engraved I think in Danish "Erindring Fra Bedstomor Kleppe" (Remembrance From Bedstomor Kleppe) I could be wrong on the name spelling.

[dognose]

Hi,

That's a great spoon!

I think that should read '830S' and 'M. OLSEN'.

There is mention of the mark in this topic: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=38295&p=104522&hilit=olsen#p104522

Trev.

[Qrt.S]

Could be Martin Olsen from Bergen, active 1867-1930. Could you show a sharper picture of the engraving or try to write the words/letters here. Thank you in advance.

[Qrt.S]

Ups, sorry! You showed the text already

[Qrt.S]

Are you sure about the tex? I think it writes "Erindring Fra Bedstemor Kleppe" i.e "Memory from Grandma Kleppe"

[lmlliny]

Thank you for the GREAT Info! What would be the best way to try and find out the PATTERN & DATE? Also, Is that a "Lucky Swastika"?

[dragonflywink]

It's not a swastika, just a simple interlaced or knotted ribbon motif like the larger design near the top of the spoon - pretty piece...

~Cheryl

[Qrt.S]

Not a svastika!? Of course it is a version of crux gammata. It is an anicent magic symbol known to be used already 3000 years BC in Egypt and Asia and even in America a bit later. Unfortunately the nazis made a mess out of it. In its origin it is/was a symbol of good.

[dragonflywink]

I'm quite familiar with symbol/motif and its long history, but if you look at the close-up, you can see where the ribbon or band continues underneath the ring as if wrapped around it, and the center is offset as if woven or interlocked - it's not a swastika...

~Cheryl

[Qrt.S]

it is a version of crux gammata.

I believe you are, anyway, please note that I wrote "version". There are quite a lot of stylized swastikas all over the world, this is one.
Here you have an example of an Aztec swastika:
Nonetheless, the swastika is not the case here.

[lmlliny]

Question: Did Martin Olsen from Bergen, active 1867-1930.....work for Th. Marthinsens SA. company? I'm asking because on this website the producers mark ")" after the 830S says it is. So, that makes "M Olsen" the retailer? the silversmith? Thank you!

[dragonflywink]

Sorry - my eyesight is failing rapidly, but I just can't see any indication of a crescent after the '830S' on your piece...

~Cheryl

[lmlliny]

SOrry, MY MISTAKE.....I have two 830S spoons I was trying to ID.....the ")" is on the other one.

[lmlliny]

Thanks to a forum member I was able to further my search & finally got some GREAT info! I contacted a museum in Bergen, Norway & here's the info:

Martin Olsen was a goldsmith born in Bergen in 1832 and became a master in 1867. He had his own workshop from 1870 and produced objects for many years, mostly cutlery. In 1904 his daughter Nilda took over the firm, which existed until 1930. Martin Olsen died in Bergen in 1929.
Your spoon is made of casted silver in a "Viking Style" pattern, popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The mark 830 S indicates that the spoon was made after 1892.
I think the symbol is some sort of a swastika, or something mid-way between a swastika and a sun cross, which was a common symbol used in the "Viking style".... around 1900 and in the neo-classicalism in the 1920s and 1930s. Many buildings in Norway from the 1920's and 1930's are decorated with swastikas. Then the symbol was scandalized by the Nazis in the 1930's and 1940's, but that's a different story.

[dognose]

Hi lmlliny,

Many thanks for taking the time to update the topic, it is appreciated.


Martin Olsen, f. i Bergen 1832, Søn af Arbejdsmand Ole Olsen Fløtre, udstod sin Lære hos Andreas Christian Møgelvang 1845-51 og tog Borgerskab 27de Aug. 1867.

Source: Bergens Museums Aarbog for 1892

Trev.

[Tosten]

The pattern is J. Tostrup "Facon 900", but sold by M. Olsen.
ref "Norsk Bestikk" by Per Bredo Østby, Oslo 2007.

[lmlliny]

Thank you for the info! I'll do research on Jacob Tostrup & run it by the Bergen Museum!