Olive Spoon, Silver, By Jacques Anthiaume, Paris, 1764-1765

- Olive spoon
- Forged silver, pierced
- By Jacques Anthiaume: received goldsmith on January 21, 1758, died on January 13, 1784
- Paris, 1764-1765
- Dim: 32.5cm long; Weight: 155g
- Excellent condition

- Large olive spoon, uniflat, the spoon bordered with a net called "mouth edge" is pierced with tears and tulips, surrounded by a symmetrical frieze of interlacing tulips. On the ribbed spatula, are engraved at the end of the 18th century the intertwined letters, "LM". We find this pierced on most of the silversmith's olive spoons as well as on an olive spoon from 1765 by Louis-Antoine Taillepied kept at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (Inv.30000A).

- Hallmarks (on the stem): Silversmith: JA with fleur-de-lis crowned with shell, for Jacques Anthiaume [3 & Beuque n°1145]; Warden's mark: A surmounted by a crown, Paris, from July 18, 1764 to July 12, 1765 [1, n°460]; Charge: A crowned and a form of laurel, for large works, Paris, from October 1, 1762 to October 1, 1765 [1 n°445]; Discharge: a blooming rose, for large works, Paris, from October 1, 1762 to October 1, 1765 [1, n°447]

- Jacques Anthiaume, a famous spoonmaker, was received as a goldsmith in 1758 in execution of the declaration of September 2, 1747 in favor of the poor from the goldsmiths gild. He takes an oath and receives the guarantee of Jean-Baptiste Gaspard Odiot, former guard. He lived in rue Bertin-Poirée until 1772 (at least according to the 1772's Dauphine almanac) then rue des Orfèvres between 1774 and 1784. In 1774, at the 20th tax, he was taxed 44L and ranked 55th by the importance of his business. His apprentice was another famous spoon maker from the end of the 18th century and from the Empire, Durup, his son Louis-Julien took over the workshop from his father. Famous for the quality of his works, we naturally find his works in major collections: Jourdan-Barry (“saupoudreuse”, n°287), Metropolitan Museum of New York (“six forks”, Inv. 48.187.225–.230 ), Musée du Louvre (“sugar spoon”, Inv. OA 11810 and other cutlery from the Metropolitan model, OA 9748 from the former Puiforcat collection)…

- Ref. : [1] Bimbenet-Privat & Fontaines: "The dating of Parisian goldsmithing under the old regime", Paris musée, 1995; [2] Bimbenet-Privat & Furhing: "The Jourdan-Barry collection", Kugel, 2005; [3] Nocq, Henri: "Directory of master goldsmiths in the jurisdiction of Paris from the Middle Ages to the end of the eighteenth century", 5 volumes, 1926; [4] Mabille, Gérard: "French goldsmithery of the 16th, 17th, 18th centuries…", Flammarion, 1993