"Sugar Spoon, Sterling Silver, Paris By Pierre-nicolas Sommé, 1778"
Sugar spoon
Sterling silver forged and pierced
Paris, 1777-1778
Master silversmith: Pierre-Nicolas Sommé, cited as master from 1760 to 1806
Length: 18.7 cm Diameter of the spoon: 6.2 cm; weight: 68g
Very good condition & beautiful patina
Small silver sugar spoon, double shell model. The spoon bordered with a simple net is pierced with a decoration of leaves distributed from a revolving central rosette. Small Parisian spoon with very careful manufacturing, made by one of the famous master spoons.
A model by our silversmith dated 1788 presents a cutting of the spoon and an attachment identical to our spoon, it differs however by the spatula without shoulder [2, n ° 88], another spoon, from 1786-89, at spoon identical to the two preceding ones is presented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of New York [Inv. 97.2.16]. It turns out that the spoon has the same cutout, only the stem and the spatula have various decorations.
Hallmarks: Charge: A crowned for large works, Paris, 1774-1780 [1, n ° 486]; jurande: O crowned, Paris, from August 13, 1777 to July 18, 1778 [1, no. 500]; discharge: a monkey's head for small works, Paris, 1774-1780 [1, n ° 489]; master silversmith: PNS, a key and a stick (only the N and S are visible) for Pierre-Nicolas Sommé, apprentice to Eloi Guérin, master in 1760 and retired to Versailles in 1806.
Ref. [1] Bimbenet-Privat & de Fontaines: "The dating of Parisian goldsmiths under the old regime", Paris Museums, 1995; [2] Kenber, Bilgi: "Sugar spoons in 18th century French goldsmithing", 2003