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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DragonflyWink, post: 10098180, member: 111&quot;]They are cherub/angel spoons (kerubsked/kerubske/kerubskje), a Scandinavian form dating back to the late 16th century, most common in the 17th - with masks on the front and back, or less common, two additional on the sides for four masks.&nbsp; The original spoons had shorter stems (a full twist-stem would be atypical) and the bowls larger and wider (though still fig-shaped), intended for dipping brandy or wine from a bowl, or for soup, they were often engraved and presented as gifts.&nbsp; Scandinavian makers produced replicas and spoons based on the earlier pieces for various uses, typically mid 19th to early 20th century, and German makers also produced similar.&nbsp; In my personal experience, can&#039;t say I&#039;ve run across this form bearing Russian or Dutch marks.</p><p><br /></p><p>There may well be worn marks on yours, and really no reason they couldn&#039;t have been produced in the late 18th century, but dating can&#039;t be firmly based on an engraving without marks or provenance that would support it.&nbsp; Personally, my feelings vary every time I view your spoons, so I can&#039;t say that I even have an opinion...</p><p><br /></p><p>This 2013 auction shows a Danish kerubske from 1708, along with an 1891 Peter Hertz piece:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]506798[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Relatively close to your engraved date, 1774 Danish spoon from Rainwater&#039;s &#039;Spoons Around the World&#039; (1976):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]506799[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Two Swedish kerubskedar, late 17th-early 18th century, from Lightbown&#039;s &#039;Catalogue of Scandinavian and Baltic Silver&#039; (1975):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]506803[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>1689 Norwegian kerubskje from Lightbown&#039;s &#039;Catalogue of Scandinavian and Baltic Silver&#039; (1975):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]506807[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>17th century Norwegian, from Fossberg&#039;s &#039;Norske Sølv-Skjeer&#039; (1974):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]506810[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have quite a few cherub spoons in my collection, all from the mid 19th to early 20th - this pair was purchased together and bear the same engraved monogram, the one on the right from 1872 by prominent Danish maker Peter Hertz is 11.5&quot;, the one on the left, 1873 by an undetermined maker is 1/4&quot; shorter, the Hertz piece is much better made and weighs 115 grams compared to 65 for the other spoon, which also has a repair.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]506815[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]506816[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]506818[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>~Cheryl[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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