Posted 11 years ago
BHock45
(807 items)
I've been meaning to post a few more of my coin silver spoons. Here is a special one in my opinion. A lot of times, silversmiths neglected the thickness of the spoon. Back then silver was, as it is today, expensive and valuable. With limited amounts of silver, silversmiths would make longer spoons with wider bowls by compromising the thickness. Thus, many of the spoons we see today are very thin, and very light.
Certain coin silver spoons feel right, they have the perfect weight and the perfect shape. This is one, I believe it has to do with a much much thicker stem. It has the double swell handle, which is a little less common, and nice sharp shoulders. It is has the monogram DGR written horizontally, also less common. A fine example in my opinion. Thanks for looking!
Hallmarked:
S. KIRK & SON 10.15
S. Kirk & Son of Baltimore, MD c. 1846-1979. see the link below for more info.
http://www.sterlingflatwarefashions.com/Silversmiths/SilversmithsK3.html
FANTASTIC!!!!! Swoon!!! This one is quite stunning!!! Very important American silversmith!
thanks mikkochristmas11 and mustantony! Very nice spoon, I had no idea it was so perfect when I bought it either!
Hi, all! I think that this very important and beautiful early American silver spoon hasn't been sufficiently appreciated by enough people yet, so I'm going to "re-love it" and celebrate it a little bit more.
Since no one has mentioned it yet, I thought some of us might like to know that the "10.15" mark signifies the following silver purity: 89.6% pure silver. The 10.15 mark on this piece makes it all the more special to me, as this mark appeared on Kirk flatware only during a certain early period. You can read more about Baltimore Assay marks and subsequent Baltimore silver marks in the link below. The Baltimore Assay of silver (established by the Maryland legislature) was a rather novel practice in America.
Also, I'm sure that you all know that the Kirk family operated one of the most distinguished silversmith firms in the USA, but I wonder if anyone realizes that they were the oldest silversmithing firm in America in continuous operation until Lenox, Inc. (which purchased the Kirk-Stieff firm in 1991) closed down the Baltimore production facility in 1999. Today, Kirk-Stieff silver is manufactured by other firms. I don't have any appreciation for the quality of newly produced Kirk-Stieff flatware, since I've never seen any, nor have heard an assessment of their quality, but it is rather sad to see the closure of another storied silver production facility.
http://www.sterlingflatwarefashions.com/Msc/BaltimoreAssayMks.html
Really interesting mikkochristmas11!!!
Thank you, sir!!! : )
I just saw your post when I was researching an S Kirk & Son coin silver spoon I just bought that is also marked 10.16. There was an old link in another comment above that I thought would explain what the 10.16 means, but the link no longer works. I'd be curious about the age and fineness of my spoon based on the marks.