Asparagus Shovel In Silver Goldsmith Queillé Nineteenth Monogram

Very pretty asparagus shovel in perforated and finely chiseled sterling silver decorated with arabesques. The hilt of the shovel is decorated in the round with a naiad resting on four shells and surmounted by a head of a faun. The handle is decorated with a monogram. We find on the shovel and on the handle the Minerva 1st title monograms and the silversmith's hallmark PQ for Queillé. Length 27.5 cm, width 9.2 cm. Weight 188 g. Quillé Goldsmiths. This is a large family of 19th century goldsmiths established in Longueie for almost a century. On February 11, 1847 Eugène stamped his hallmark which he kept from his grandfather and his father Pierre François Queillé senior (hence the initials PQ) and worked at 8 rue Saint Roch Poissonnière in Paris. In 1874 the workshops moved to 11 rue des Petits-Carreaux. His son Elvire works with him using his punch, until 1880, the year of Eugène Queillé's death. Elvire continued to use the hallmark until 1895, when the workshop was partly taken over by the famous goldsmith Antoine Lapparra.