Found in the family silver: 12 loth spoon, poss. Hanau City before 1888

[theappleranch]

A family piece found in the holiday silver. Only one mark, on the front, as seen below. Using the images on this website I've tentatively identified the spoon as being from from Hanau City, Hesse, before 1888.

I'm very interested in learning:

1) The maker and/or time period if possible, by identifying the initials below the chevrons. They appear to be NH but maybe there is another interpretation.

2) Where did one purchase such a spoon when it was new?

3) On what sort of occasions would a spoon like this have been given as a gift?

4) Would a utensil like this have been sold new only in Hanau City, or would it have been available regionally (Hesse) or would it have been available, new, in other parts of Germany as well?

5) Anything else at all! Feel free to ramble....

Thank you so much for helping me answer this mystery in our family history. Danke.

[theappleranch]

If you think this spoon is not actually 12 Loth silver but silver plate, or has any other issues, please reply and share those thoughts! I'm very interested in hearing anything at all about this piece. All I really want is to learn as much as possible about this spoon, because it will reflect a bit of our family history. Fake, real, doesn't matter.

We had an ancestor who came from Hesse in about 1853. This could have been hers. Thanks again!

(Tried to edit original post but not able to figure out how.)

[Joerg]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
In the course of time participating in the forum you will learn the specialist for 19th century German silver is Theoderich . He has his reference website, the link is here:
http://silberpunze.freehost.ag/index.php
Open it, put Hanau in the search query and see the results.
Your spoon is made by Johann Conrad Lauck, in early 1800.
To your questions:
If you search further in the history of Hanau silver, you notice they produced (low quality) items for an international market. However, this was later in the 19th century and in the 20st century. In the early 1800 Hanau was producing similar to other cities. Such as spoon were usually made for local or regional use, sold by the silversmith or supplied to a larger silversmith sales office. Spoons were often given as a gift, baptizing or wedding or others. However, in such occasions it usually bears a corresponding inscription. Do not forget, they were also used by the more wealthier people for normal use. This spoon can easily be from as set of 6 or 12 spoons, in the course of time distributed within the family. Often just spoons were purchased. Usually knives were made of steel with horn handles. Also forks are much rarer.
And, yes it is silver, 12 indication 12 loth, 75% silver content.
All the best with your nice find.

Kind regards, Jörg

[theappleranch]

Jörg,

What a wonderful way to start the day. Thank you. I'm delighted with all you have told me and I will look to the site you mentioned to learn more. I hope I'll learn how you determined the maker with such confidence. Danke schön.

Cheers,
Anne

[theappleranch]

Jörg,

Thank you once again. I have looked with great interest at the site you recommend. I find myself wondering which aspects of the mark you have used to attribute to Louck? There are other marks (Johann Conrad Leonhard, Hanau 1790, Hanau 1840 Schleissner, etc.) whose marks look similar. Your level of knowledge must allow you to see details I am missing?

Our spoon says 12 and these are all 13: did makers sell spoons of if different Loth qualities?

Thank you so much.

[Joerg]

Hi Anne
Sorry, my mistake. The silversmith name is a left over from me compiling the post. I do not have a makers identified. Without makers mark this is not possible. However, I was aussuming a date between 1800 and 1830. The spoon has 19th century appearance, Looks too modern for being made before 1800. Then between 1800 and 1850 spoons showed a tendency to become lighter and thinner. From the pictures yours looks still rather heavy. Also the style looks like early 1800. For the loth number: 12 and 13 are common in Germany. Up to the 1860ies, many spoons in Germany were made with a 12 loth alloy. Silversmith made spoons with different alloys, also according to the request of the customer. 12 loth for your spoon is perfectly fine.
Anyway, your spoon looks rather worn. Is there a possibility that the makers mark is worn out? Check on the handle next to the city mark. Maybe there are leftovers? If you polish the spoon and breath on it, maybe something is visible?
Regards, Jörg

[theappleranch]

Jörg,

Thanks for all the information. The spoon is quite thin and light and was heavily used, very worn. Whoever owned this spoon used it a lot, a lot, a lot and either chose or was forced (if they were poor) to patch it at least twice rather than buy a new spoon.

No other mark, I'm afraid, not even a faint one. The handle is engraved on the back with a worn M R. Any maker's mark would have been deeper than this engraving so I am certain there was never another mark. I believe the spoon must have been brought from Hesse Cassel with a Reinhardt ancestor in 1853 so the initial R makes sense.

I am delighted to have the spoon. Of all the physical traits I could have inherited from my great great grandmother, I have her square jaw. It makes sense that I would now have the spoon that interacted with that jaw every day!

Thanks again. You've been a wonderful help.

Anne