VERY UNUSUAL SPOON FORK COMBINATION
I am not sure what to write about this very unusual silver items.
My readers are very sophisticated, so if you have any idea please let
me know.
As you can see, the handles have silver wire soldered to the handle.
The handles themselves are a square shape but mounted on the
corners so that they look triangular.
The tines on the fork are very unusual in their shape.
From the side, you can see how the finials are turned upward. I do not
know the significance of that

The silver markings are in the bowl. This style of silver marking is
usually done by the French. However, in this case the purity is marked
as 850 and that is not a standard French marking.
Also the mark on the right looks like it is Islamic to me.
The back of the spoon shows the strange handle design
My GUESS is that these are from Algeria or Tunisia or one of the other
French African colonies.
I am further guessing that they were made in the 1700 - 1850 era.
Mr.W. Kundis writes that he believes the mark is related to the
Dutch East Indies company and is written in Javanese script.
Most of the silver from Java, Indonesia is 800 quality, but there is
some that is known (Tom's silver) to be 850 quality (but that is
very unusual)
He also believes that the items date to the late 1890's.
Tom's silver is currently a retailer of high end silver with multiple
outlets in Indonesia.
I don't know if they did custom manufacturing a century ago.
I have been unable to find any similar looking flatware from Indonesia
or Europe, but his theory is certainly worthy of consideration.
However, if you have any information about these items --
please contact me
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