Early french meat skewers?

rat-tail · Post by **rat-tail** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:13 am

Please could you help me identify the maker of these silver meat or perhaps poultry skewers. They're 19cm long. The one would appear to have the Paris first standard guarentee for 1819 to 1838, a tiny little round mark which I can't identify under the jewellers loop and a markers mark which appears to be symbol at the top, then C, a castle, C and the top of a litter possibly and I at the bottom. The other two which are a little more substantial are simply stamped R, sheaf of wheat, L. I am fairly sure they are silver, but they could be high quality silver early plate. They may not even be french.

I have included the three together as they came from the same household, and thought they might give some context to each other, but if you would like me to list separately, I will gladly do so.

Many thanks Frank

The one with the confirmed french mark is in the front

the marks on the other two

blakstone · Post by **blakstone** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:05 pm

The first mark is worn, but it actually reads “CGL” with a fleur-de-lys above and a tower at the center. It’s the mark of Charles-Gilles LaTourette, registered 25 Jul 1820 and cancelled 5 Oct 1844. He was a Parisian silversmith and jeweler specializing in small tablewares (like skewers), working at 38 rue Pastorelle 1820-1830 and then 59 rue du Temple 1830-1844. (The photo of the circular mark is too blurry for identifiation.)

I can’t find the other mark. If the pieces are silver, then they should have other guarantee marks on them, so I think you may be right about them being heavy plate. The probem is that without other marks, tracing this one is very much a needle-in-a-haystack proposition. I found nothing in a cursory check of my French references, but I’ll keep digging. As you say, it might not even be French.

rat-tail · Post by **rat-tail** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 5:24 pm

Many thanks Blackstone - appreciate it. You're right about the other two. Could be anywhere. But a further thought. Could they is perhaps be from Mauritius or Reunion, because the only sizable French community we have in Durban are from those islands. - Thanks Frank

JAKJO · Post by **JAKJO** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 5:50 pm

Hi,

Is there perhaps a connection with this

LÃ©vy, Roger
Initiales R.L.
Profession Fabricant bijoutier et de doublÃ©
Symboles une plume d'oiseau ( a bird's feather)

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/marque_fr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Best regards/JAKJO

rat-tail · Post by **rat-tail** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:01 am

Hi Jakjo - thank you very much. I feel a shade idiotic at not identifying the mark as a bird's feather. , but see it's quite obvious now. I presume as the maker is French, and there are no silver guarantee marks that these are early french silver plate. Thanks Frank

tugdual · Post by **tugdual** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:25 am

hi

first sorry if I write a poor english but I'm french ;)

to me it appears to be solid silver on the third photo it is "le vieillard"(the old man)which means silver made in Paris
Could the 4th photo be the guarantee mark ?

about the maker " un fabricant bijoutier " is a jewelry maker I think we have to find "un orfÃ¨vre" who makes silver item