Leeuwarden ?

[joho]

Hi all. Can anyone help identify town, date and maker of this tablespoon. The marks indicate Leeuwarden, but I may well be wrong. The back of the bowl is engraved : Bakkers Gilde and Lepel 1783. And also a crest, presumably of the Bakkers Gilde. It is 20cm long. As always with Dutch spoons I am a little suspicious that the marks may be false. Many thanks. John

[oel]

Hi Joho,

Yes,you are correct Leeuwarden, nothing wrong. Lion rampant in a crowned shield, guild city mark for Leeuwarden used as of 1779 till 1802.The Frisian province mark; two lions in a crowned shield, to indicate 1st standard or 934/1000 fineness. Indeed Bakkers gilde (Baker's guild).
Maker's mark HD crowned conjoined for Hendrik Dauw 1764-1807. Date letter crowned F for 1783
See Leeuwarden;
http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32028

Best,

Peter

[joho]

Wow, that was quick! Many thanks Peter.

All the best
John

[ionicorder]

Dauw appears to have been the go-to silversmith for the Leeuwarden Bakkers Gilde in the 1780's. With apologies for images taken in haste here is a tobacco box apparently commissioned from Dauw as a retirement present for a baker - one side shows a scene of a working bakery and the other the baker and his wife relaxing in their well-earned retirement.

[oel]

Hi, thanks for showing. Are there any other marks on the box, town mark and year letter?

Peter.

[ionicorder]

Sadly not. Either side of the maker's mark the surface has been re-worked to receive a later, presumably owner's name; J.A.Fisher, and a date: 1851, both applied in dotted lines. My dating is simply based on the rococo design, out of fashion by about 1790 with neoclassicism coming in, and Leeuwarden was Dauw's base, but hopefully it gives some context for the spoon.

[oel]

Thank you very much, indeed a pity the (hall) marks of Leeuwarden have been erased. It is the mark of Hendrik Dauw and I agree with your dating.



Peter