Tags
Applied Art, Art Nouveau, Brocante, Cutlery, Efeu, Hallmark, Ivy Leaf, Jugendstil, Silver, WMF
Last week, my mom insisted I go with her to a Brocante in Giessenburg. De Graanbuurt is a very interesting concept where an old barn is transformed into an indoor street with numerous little shops. Several smaller buildings in the direct vicinity also house second-hand shops; you can literally spend hours rummaging around. My mom had loved it when she had been there before, and it appeared to become a sunny friday, so off we went…
In one of the stalls I noticed a very old box with beautiful little forks. They looked a bit smudgy but they were clearly silver. I turned them around and noticed a WMF stamp which made me decide, of course besides the fact that I loved the way they looked, to make the lady an offer. She was asking 20 euro’s and I offered 15 which she accepted. After 5 hours of strolling and a coffee break with cake, we left Griessenburg. Tired but satisfied.
Back home I took a few pictures of my new set of forks and mailed them to Dorian Frank who – in my opinion – is an expert on WMF silver objects. Dorian confirmed what I already expected: this was an exceptional Find of the Day! He told me the name of the design is Efeu, or in English Ivy Leaf. Ivy Leaf was designed in 1903 as WMF (Württembergischen Metallwarenfabrik) design No. 29. Examples of this design can be seen in the “Deutsches Klingenmuseum“, in Solingen, Germany.
According to Dorian, the value of my forks depends on both the condition and the quality of the silver. Well, the condition is impeccable, and I am very lucky, because also the quality is the highest possible! There are 3 stamps in my forks. The first stamp is a walking bird – an ostrich – the WMF company logo between 1880 and 1925. The second stamp is a stamp with the characters WMF. And the third stamp is a 0, which means the silver-plate deposit is 50% thicker than a normal coating.
From what I could find on the internet, my forks appear to be worth at least €300,- and it also turns out they’re oyster forks! Though I am sure I can eat cake with them too. So, all in all, I had a wonderful day and I am very pleased with my second-hand oyster/cake forks!
About Art Nouveau 
Wow! Lucky you! Those forks are SO beautiful!
Unfortunately here in Moscow we don’t have real flee markets.
But I’ve found one WMF object in Istanbul) http://sonatinca.blogspot.ru/2014/04/blog-post.html
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That is a very beautiful WMF centerpiece! Did you see the Dorian Frank collection? Dorian has been collecting WMF objects for 25 years and made his collection available on the internet for us. Your piece might be the beginning of your own collection!?!
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yes, I saw his collection after you post about him. It’s fantastic!
I hope to have my own some day. You too? I love your cactus)
But now I’m looking for a glass-blower to make a bowl for my piece)
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