Unknown ABT i Riga 1886

[Qrt.S]

Hi
A friend of mine sent me the picture below asking me who might this maker ABT (possibly ЛВТ) be? It is on a spoon 145 mm long. I have no picture of the whole spoon, sorry. Anyway, I cannot find this ABT in my sources. Hopefully some you might know him. The assayer is Danil Lesenko in Riga, no doubts about that but the maker? Thank you in advance.

[Goldstein]

Hi -
as far as I know there are virtually no unknown Baltic silversmiths. I checked all my sources, archives and existing real pieces - no luck!
On closer inspection of your stamp I can see some inconsistencies against the by me for comparison shown punches. The assay marks from Riga should match definitely! The town mark and maker´s mark are more worn than the rest ...coincidence? Photos of the spoon´s front and back would help a lot.



Goldstein

[Qrt.S]

Oh yes there are both some unknown makers and as well unknown marks in the Baltic area, I know some and so do you Goldstein. Regarding punches there are no 100% identical punches because they are worn, broken, changed and renewed. This has been discussed here in the past. Besides that is not the point here, which is who is ABT? He is not necessarily located in Riga but in a town in the Baltic area relatively close to Riga. I believe he is a know master but this punch is "new/unknown" being his. I have not either found him in my sources. This is the reason for me to ask the forum but not discussing is the spoon a fake or not. The assayer is identified to be Lesenko. In my first input I mentioned that unfortunately I have no other pictures. The spoon is not in my possession. It was seen elsewhere by a friend of mine.

[Qrt.S]

Unfortunately the maker is still unknown to name...at least to me.

[mk209]

Hopefully we’ll know someday. It’s a nice fork:






Matt

[blakstone]

I think I've found him. An 1885 German-language Riga directory available online lists, under gold & silversmiths, one Adam Bartholomäus Taube, working in Riga at 75 Alexanderstrasse. He is not listed in 1898 (the next directory I could find), but a Hugo Taube, also a gold/silversmith, is listed on Weberstrasse. Later censuses show Hugo was born on May 13, 1868 in Riga, so I think he might be Adam's son. Many Riga church and other records of the period are available online, but it's slow going for me given the language barrier and the haphazard indexing of the records. I'll keep you posted.

[blakstone]

Sometimes Fortuna smiles on you. I was able confirm in the records of Riga Cathedral that Hugo Carl Taube was indeed the son of goldsmith Adam Bartholomäus Taube and his wife Juliane Sophie Lukaschewitz; an older son, Nikolai Adolph Taube, was born on 5 Apr 1866.

Further digging revealed that Adam Bartholomäus Taube was born on 17 Sep 1834 in Riga, the son of Adam Bartholomäus Taube & Catharina Künstler (I could not make out the elder Taube's occupation, but it was definitely not a gold or silversmith), and was baptized at Riga Cathedral on 17 Oct 1834. He married Juliane Sophie Lukaschewitz, age 30, on 23 Apr 1865, at St. Gertrud Old Church, Riga; his occupation is listed as a goldsmith.

I have not yet been able to find a death record for him, but will keep looking. However, I think the abundance of evidence thus far makes the attribution of the ABT mark to Adam Bartholomäus Taube all but certain.

[Qrt.S]

@blakstone

Nice doing blakstone, thank you very much. As I mentioned earlier, there are still unknown masters to be revealed in Riga >:->!
Have a nice evening
Qrt.S

[blakstone]

Thanks! I found two more Riga directory listings for him:

1868: Adam Taube, goldsmith, 5 Reeperstrasse
1877: Adam Taube, goldsmith, 7 Fuhrmannstrasse

Also, an earlier directory (1864) gives his father’s occupation as a “Wagenvermiether”, which I presume is someone who leases wagons and carts.

Finally, I found in the records of Riga Cathedral the burial record on 9 Feb 1892 of Adam Bartholomäus Taube, goldsmith, who died in Riga on 5 Feb 1892, age 57.

So there you have it: Adam Bartholomäus Taube (1834-1892), working in Riga 1865-1892, succeeded by his son Hugo Carl Taube.

[Dad]

Blakstone.
Fine research. My congratulations!

[mk209]

Awesome! Thankyou so much Blakston, superb research now I know who made my fork. It’s always really good to know a bit about the silversmith too, somehow feels good to appreciate their work knowing who they are.

Matt