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In the 1890's and first part of the twentieth century, wealthy Americans would undertake the "Grand Tour" of Europe, much as the wealthy Englishmen used to do a century previously. At this time, one of the favorite destinations were the beautiful cities of Germany rather than the cities of Italy which had intrigued the English in the eighteenth century.
This set of eight spoons was acquired from a descendent of a family which made that Grand Tour. The spoons are NOT a matched set since each was acquired separately in each individual city, but the purchaser obviously made an attempt to make all of the spoon acquistions very similar.
All (except Luzern) of the spoons have significant enamel work on the finial and handle. All of the bowls are vermeil (gold plate over 800 silver), and each of the bowls has the city name engraved on it (in a very similar lettering style). The condition of all the spoons is very good.
Today it is not unusual to find individual spoons of this caliber, but it is unusual to find a set of this size and quality.
Engraved "Bingen"
engraved "Coblenz"
engraved "Flimsi" or "Tlimsi?"
engraved "Frankfurt" (picture skewed--not spoon)
engraved "Heidelberg"
engraved "Luzern"
engraved "Munchen"
engraved "Wiesbaden"
The "In the Beginning" exhibit also features spoons from a grand tour. If you have not already visited that exhibit, you may click here.