{Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs}

This is such a lovely Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs. Would make a perfect bridal gift or as a very special, romantic gift.
Again this is only available at my on line Boutique and I will as always, do ship Worldwide.

Just click here: Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs in order to go to my online Boutique.

One can only admire the talented silver smith that once created this ornate piece in solid repousse silver...
Perfect match with the beautiful hand crocheted table topper by blogger friend Susan from Ava Grace's Closet's Mama.

Yes, I certainly love to use our roses whenever I photograph beautiful silver pieces. It is such pure romance.

Together with a healthy piece of dark chocolate, filled with dried apricots, nuts and seeds, that I made myself, it displays very well.

Here you can see the silver mark which is German.
First the 800 is visible, followed by a half moon and a crown.

 On Page 21 of Johanna Gehrlein's book: Rosen-Bestecke you can see those silver marks shown in the 1st and 2nd image, resembling a half moon and a crown.

Johanna's excellent book +Rosen-Bestecke, about Rose Silver flatware has always been such a great reference!

Sold out...

Related links:

{Splendid book about Silver Rose Flatware} | previous post by me

{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver ANGELS Napkin, Letter or Card Holder} | previous post by me showing similar cherubs, angels or putti.

{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver Roses Napkin, Letter or Card Holder} | previous post by me 

Mariette on Google+

{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver ANGELS Napkin, Letter or Card Holder}

Offering here a very rare and unique Antique German REPOUSSE Silver ANGELS Napkin, Letter or Card Holder for either the Office or your Tea Table. It is such an elegant addition. Below this post you find more links with also photos as a Card Holder. Hope you enjoy this special piece of silver work by German Silversmith ADAM MANNS & SOHN. This Holder is from before 1938 when they added a dot to the AMD silver mark after son Wilhelm took over. You will see info below.

Frolicking ANGELS or PUTTI decorate this beautiful Napkin, Card or Letter Holder...

Used here with hand crocheted cocktail napkins.

This rare antique piece is available for sale at my ZenCart powered on line Boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics: Antique REPOUSSE Silver ANGELS Napkin or Card Holder. 

This will adorn any tea table or hors d'œuvre buffet in a very romantic way!

Again I did use the gifted hand crocheted lace table topper made by blogger friend Susan from Ava Grace's Closet's Mama and of course our favorite Gardenias, the Large variety.

Don't you love these frolicking ANGELS together with the lace and flowers?

Creating a little bit of heaven on earth...

This is the back side, which is exactly the same as the front.

Different angle...

Showing you its bottom part and width, with feet.

Closeup of those frolicking ANGELS... PUTTI

The Silver Mark 800 AMD by ADAM MANNS & SOHN

This is the older mark from before 1938 as it is in a different sequence and without the • (dot) behind AMD as later was used by Adam's son Wilhelm

Sold out...

Once more, thanks to the help of +Johanna Gehrlein's exceptional book about Silver Rose tableware I found all the info in her book: +Rosen-Bestecke  

THANKS a lot Johanna! 

Do you love anything ANGELS?

Related links:
{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver Roses Napkin, Letter or Card Holder} | previous post by me
{Happy New Year - 2012} | previous post by me showing a Silver Cards Holder with 2 Angels
Giovanni Raspini 925 Silver Letter/Napkin Holder 2 Angels | heavy silver holder protected against oxidation at my ZenCart powered Boutique on line.
Antique REPOUSSE Silver Roses Napkin or Card Holder | at my ZenCart powered Boutique on line
{Violets from our Garden and on French Country Style Wooden Tableau} | previous post by me showing silver card holder with 2 Angels - SCROLL down please for Card Holder photos!
PUTTI PLAYING GAMES, 'EN GRISAILLE' | CHRISTIE'S CIRCLE OF PIAT-JOSEPH SAUVAGE (TOURNAI 1744-1818)
PUTTI PAINTING AND DRAWING, 'EN GRISAILLE' | CHRISTIE'S AN ALLEGORY OF THE LIBERAL ARTS - MANNER OF PIAT-JOSEPH SAUVAGE

Mariette on Google+

{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver Roses Napkin, Letter or Card Holder}

Offering here a very rare and unique Antique German REPOUSSE Silver Roses Napkin, Letter or Card Holder for either the Office or your Tea Table. It is such an elegant addition. Below this post you find more links with also photos as a Card Holder. Hope you enjoy this special piece of silver work by German Silversmith Christoph Widmann since 1919. 

Here you see the front side of this exceptional silver piece in Repousse Roses.

I used it here as a holder for cocktail napkins to be used for hors d'oeuvres or tea.

This is available at my ZenCart powered on line boutique Mariette's Back to Basics: Antique REPOUSSE Silver Roses Napkin or Card Holder. Feel free to share!

Now showing you the equal back side of this fine master piece in silver.

Again showcasing the beautiful hand crocheted lace table topper by blogger Friend Susan's Mama from Ava Grace's Closet.

Back to the front and a bit closer...

Our last Gardenias look great with this masterpiece!

A real closeup...

The Christoph Widmann Silver Mark

Once more, thanks to the help of +Johanna Gehrlein's exceptional book about Silver Rose tableware I found all the info in her book: +Rosen-Bestecke 

THANKS a lot Johanna! 

Do you love anything roses?

Sorry Sold out...

Related link:
Christoph Widmann, Pforzheim Germany
Antik Silver | Manufactured as if still in the 19th Century - select napkin holder from dropdown
{Happy New Year - 2012} | previous post by me showing a Silver Cards Holder with 2 Angels
{Violets from our Garden and on French Country Style Wooden Tableau} | previous post by me showing silver card holder with 2 Angels - SCROLL down please for Card Holder photos!

Mariette on Google+

{Identifying Silver Grape Scissors from Sweden}

Yesterday I did show in my post the tiny, sweet Champagne grapes with silver Grape Scissors in a Rose Pattern. They also are often called Grape Shears.  

Mind you, they are actually not THAT large.

Do you see to the left where a space is cut out for placing the grapes' stem?

That way you easily can snip off a section of a larger bunch of grapes.

One person in her comment asked: 'How do you know the Scissor is meant for grapes?' This was Marianne from the blog: BiebKriebels or Library Jitters, if I translate this from Dutch. So as promised I will get back to the subject.

I learned that I made a spelling error myself, as scissor should be written in plural as scissors.

On my blog post, I've corrected that but in the URL it still shows as scissor.

English is NOT my mother tongue and overall, I guess that my English will be better than your Dutch...

Now let's look at the meaning of this silver TABLE SERVING or DESSERT SERVING piece.

In my book: FORKS KNIVES & SPOONS by Peri Wolfman and Charles Gold I found a nice mention of the silver grape shears. Read more about this Manhattan Design Guru below post...

At the bottom left you can read: One of life's little niceties -- sterling silver grape shears.

From one of Christie's auctions you can find above: A VICTORIAN SILVER-GILT DESSERT SERVICE

Just click the above hyperlink to go to the actual page.

 It shows dessert pieces like forks, knives, spoons, cheese knives, and one pair of grape scissors.

Again from Christie's: A GEORGE III SILVER-GILT DESSERT-SERVICE

just click on above hyperlink

Now, how did I identify my silver grape scissors as being from Sweden?

You can read here: the Maker's Mark:GRWR - City Stamp: M - 3 crowns and an S for Silver and Date Letter: R9

So what does this tell us?

On page 142, of The Book: +Rosen-Bestecke (Rose Flatware) by +Johanna Gehrlein from +Silber-und-Rosen-Shop I found the marking from Sweden in the form of 3 crowns (seen in Abb. 2).

Johanna is a dear friend and her hardcover book with excellent photographs has proven to be invaluable!

Sure enough the Swedish Mark with 3 crowns and the S for silver is still being used.

Just click and scroll from link above.

The letter M I found here: Swedish Hallmarks and City Stamps and it stands for the city of Malmö in Sweden.

And my Silver Grape Scissors from Malmö in Sweden were made in 1967 according to the R9 hallmark...

This table you find from the very same link in the above City Stamps, just scroll down.

Hope this did answer Marianne's question!

Related links:
{Table Setting versus Table Scape} | previous post by me
{Silver Grape Scissors with Roses and Champagne Grapes} | previous post by me
Organizing Secrets from a Manhattan Design Guru Peri Wolfman | Peri is the writer of the book Forks Knives & Spoons and is now tableware designer for Restoration Hardware after she had been vice president for product development at Williams-Sonoma.
Less to Mess | interview with Design Guru Peri Wolfman from The New York Times, May 2013

Mariette on Google+

{Have YOU Ever Seen the Making of Silver in Kotagede, Indonesia?}

Just would like to ask if any of you ever have seen the making of silver in Kotagede, Indonesia?

Our travels as international consultants did give us many opportunities for getting to see unusual things. Living and working in Indonesia, we already did purchase several hand made silver items in the past but we actually never had observed in great detail how this was coming about. Usually a team of about six men, in the 'Silver City' of Kotagede near Yogyakarta on the island of Java, Indonesia would work at our favorite SS silver shop. We had ordered a coffee set on a tray and that took those six men about six weeks to make. That was in 1992...

Many techniques of making silver have remained unchanged for centuries. You can click on the hyperlink for info. Such as is evident here where a worker starts out on a mount of tar and using a long nail... This looks rather rough for creating such beautiful pieces in the end!

This is the work shop where our items came about. Look how they have to squat down or sit without any back support. People in the USA, Canada, Europe or Australia don't realize how lucky they are for having work conditions in a much more favorable environment. These men were farmers that worked in the rice fields in the morning and in the afternoon they worked as silversmiths. The younger generation is not following in their footsteps and as you can read below this post in a publication from The Jakarta Post, December 11, 2009, it is a tarnished future of Kotagede silver; mainly due to the economy.

We treasure  those pieces that we obtained while we were working and living there. Not just hastily bought tourist souvenirs but carefully selected designs that we had made as we had time for them to create it.

Lots of friends were thinking that silver was dirt cheap over there but one must realize that precious metals like gold and silver are directly linked to the US Dollar and therefore have a world market value. What was cheap for our standards is the labor done by those six men. If that would have to be calculated at our hourly wages, no one person could afford any piece of jewelry or other item!

This is the man that sat squatted down, on the left... all the silver that is being spilled, they do catch and it is being reused of course as it is too precious. That is me standing beside him while husband Pieter took this photo. Our best friends John & Becky from Dublin, Georgia have been with us to this very silver shop and work place in June of 2001. That was our last consulting work period. Just prior to 9/11.

Each person has a different task...

Guess that my dear friend Johanna Gehrlein and author from the book  +Rosen-Bestecke  (Rose Flatware) would far better be able to explain their detailed work...

Related links:
{Splendid book about Silver Rose Flatware} | previous blog post with mention of author Johanna Gehrlein from +Silber-und-Rosen-Shop
The tarnished future of Kotagede silver | The Jakarta Post, December 11, 2009
THE SILVER SOCIETY

Mariette on Google+

{Vintage Silver Tea Strainer with Cherubs}

For the cozy winter season coming up, what a joy for serving some hot tea for friends. In order to do this in a traditional and romantic style, I found for you a Vintage Silver-Tea-Strainer with Cherubs. Very unique piece and it will be hard for finding a second one. As usual, available at my Zen Cart powered on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics, see link below post.

Shown here, resting atop a teacup & saucer.

You can see the cherubs around this solid silver-tea-strainer.

Closeup of the cherubs from the handle down...

Closeup of the cherubs on the side.

The four silver hallmarks.

This tea strainer came from Germany but I need some help with the markings.

Does anybody have an idea which silver maker had these marks? 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

A big thank you to Johanna Gehrlein, author of the book: Rosen-Bestecke and expert in rose silver.

According to her it is: German silver from Hanau by silversmith J.L. Schlingloff. The 4th hallmark clearly does show the initials J L with the S over them.

Check my comments for Johanna's reaction.

Johanna did cleverly point out in her comment that such a strainer can be used as a sugar sifter for decorating cake, pancakes or waffles. Many uses in the kitchen.

Sold out...

Are you using loose tea at home?

Do you own a tea strainer?

Love to know...

Related link:

Vintage Silver Tea Strainer with Cherubs Zen Cart powered on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics

Silver-Sunday/Tea Accessories by Johanna's blog Silber+Rosen showing Tea Boxes by J.L. Schlingloff

Palazzo Falson information about J.L. Schlingloff early 20th Century

Vintage Tea Strainers at Antique Mall showing you several antique tea strainers

Tea with Kate Spade  from High Heeled Life in the Country; showing off this very tea strainer...

Rekindling the Romance ~ With Yourself- Part 2 of 2 | Dear Friend Celia from High Heeled Life showing the tea strainer again... ♥

Mariette on Google+

{Mistery Oma Rose Resolved!}

Remember my post from two days ago? Sad that ONLY on June 10 we had some 'Oma Roses'... My prized rose bushes that I have from my paternal grandmother. We never knew the name for this beautiful rose, but thanks to friend Bea from Modern Country Lady the mistery got resolved! Even though she was extremely busy all week with all the publicity she suddenly got, she did tip me. As a Pet Parent all of her fur babies have made it into the Country Living Readers' pets album! Her delicious jam recipes got published on The Instructables editor's pick. If you scroll down on her blog Modern Country Lady, you will get there. Clicking on the hyperlink of Modern Country Lady above, will get you to her feature in 'Homemade' a British Craft Magazine.

So what did Bea name this Oma Rose? Queen Elizabeth, a Floribunda rose that got introduced in 1954 by Lammerts, USA. In 1979 it became 'World's Favorite' Rose! When I looked it up in the many books about roses that I got, I found it right there of course. And it matches all criteria. I AM SO HAPPY!

A Pocket Guide to Roses is one of the books that features the Queen Elizabeth Floribunda rose. As well as All-America Roses.

A Pocket Guide to Roses shows The Queen Elizabeth Rose on Page 160.

All-America Roses shows The Queen Elizabeth rose on Page 69.

Our Queen Elizabeth Floribunda Rose...

Here are two lovely Dutch books about roses, that were mailed to me by my brother Harry and sister-in-law Elly in 2009.

I did grow up near Lottum where every 2 years there is a Rose Festival see Rozendorp.

That said, you know a bit more about my love for roses...

The Rose Bible by Rayford Clayton Reddell that I have here is a hard cover and a beautiful book.

Photo quality on glossy paper is exceptional. There are several photos of the Queen Elizabeth rose inside.

Another prized book of course is Victoria At Home With Roses, as is my most favorite magazine Victoria.

On a rainy day such books are a super 'pick-me-up' with all their romantic ideas!

When the roses from the garden have wilted away; then the silver roses give you joy...

This excellent book Rosen-Bestecke by Johanna Gehrlein, with lots of high quality photos for identifying your romantic silver flatware is available as Rosen-Bestecke.

Now you know a lot more about me... but I think I inherited that love for roses!

Mariette on Google+