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Recently, I have got what I think is a French sugar bowl (see photo below together with the hallmarks).
The marks indicate that the item is of French (Paris) origin and from the 1798-1809 period.
Unfortunately, there is more that I do not know:
1. Is it a sugar bowl or a candy bowl or maybe a jam bowl or something else entirely?
2. Evidently, there are two makers of it. I was not able to identify any of them.
One set (the left/ EDP) of marks was on the base and the lid the other (the right/ PVN) was on the handle.
I gather they are contemporary. How to explain this? Who are these makers?
3. There is a blurred mark (third from the left) I was not able to identify. Is it a mark or something else?
Hi Georg,
Perhaps a so called, drageoir ( Fr.); coupe or tray for confectionery (Fr. dragées). Originally made in rather large dimensions, drageoirs served as decoration on the table or sideboard.The drageoirs were then wide dishes on a pedestal, with arched lid. In the second half of the 19th century, the word drageoir was gradually replaced by bonbonnière.
I believe the lid has been repaired, the ring with attachment (small guarantee mark) is not original, kind of marriage, later done by different silversmith who marked it with his maker’s mark.
Yes, as @oel states, this item would be called a drageoir, used for sugar-coated almonds (dragées).
In France, all parts of an object should be marked. It is possible for a lid, handle and body of an object to have different marks, especially if some parts are replacements/repairs as @oel suggests.
You have an interesting collection of marks from the immediate post-Revolutionary period:
The cockerel silver standard mark and the guarantee mark for Paris, 1798-1809, and also a guarantee mark for smalls from the same period. The third mark is too blurry to see properly on my monitor; perhaps a later recount mark?
In addition you have 2 maker’s marks in lozenge-shaped reserves.
The first shown, EDP is the mark of Edme Dupont, initials EDP, symbol a lilac flower, working in Paris at 2 rue de Jérusalem. He was listed as a flatware maker. He first registered 7 November 1796. No end date is given, but he appeared in the Almanach Azur until 1822.
See Arminjon, v. 1, no. 00947, p. 124.
The PVfN mark is that of Marguerite Picque, widow of Noël Neusécourt, also written Nésecour. Her symbol was a buttercup (renoncule). She was a hollowware maker, working in Paris at 10, rue Ste-Anne. She first registered her mark 1802-03; no end date is given.
Her late husband, Noël Neusécourt (Nésecour) was a pre-Revolutionary maker, who worked in Paris at Quai des Orfèvres. He first registered his mark, NN, symbol a rose, on 19 July 1783, and was listed until 1793 when presumably his widow took over the business.
See Arminjon, v. I, no. 03105, p. 305, and Nocq, v. 3, p. 276.
P.S. There is an engraved personalization of a coat-of-arms on the lid which is difficult to see. This drageoir could have been a wedding gift as things related to sweets were symbolic gifts for the new couple: sugar bowls, candy dishes, sugar spoons, etc.
Thank both of you for the explanation. That was really helpful and clarified a lot.
So this is the candy bowl and the handle was repaired but the repair is 200 years old. Good work indeed.
I shall try to take a better photo of the third mark. If I succeed I shall post it here.
Thank you again.
I took a photo of the third mark. The image is not very good because the mark is tiny, but I think it is a Belgium import mark used between 1831 and 1869.
