Selected from over 425 plique-à-jour spoons in the collection, these 9 spoons exemplify top tier designs and workmanship available to tourists from 1890 to about 1910. They range from demitasse to the larger sizes. Plique spoons were rare, increasingly so as size increased. I estimate they may have represented one tenth of one percent of all available souvenir spoons at that time. Being fragile, many have been lost in the sands of time over the 120 years since they first glowed when held to the light. These survivors are the product of 50 years of focused collecting.
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From left to right:
No. 1 Top. David Andersen, Christiania, Norway. 5 ¾ inches long. This spoon incorporates much heavier wirework than usual, a premium feature.
No. 1 Bottom. David Andersen. 3 7/8 inches long. The multicolored single cells represent the finest workmanship, a specialty of this jeweler.
No. 2. J. Tostrup, Christiania. 7 7/8 inches long. The finial and stem designs are common with numbers 3, 5, and 7 and form a design family. Note however, that the stems of 3 and 5 have an unusual left hand twist.
Nos. 3 and 5. J. Tostrup. 7 ¼ inches long. This pair of premium spoons differ only in the twist direction of their stems, and the enamel color of the bowls.
No. 4. Theodore Olsen, Bergen, Norway. 6 1/8 inches long. Selected for the elegant design and finest workmanship. The flowers are not all the same color, a unique feature.
No. 6. J. Tostrup. The rectangular bowl is rare. The stem and bowl and finial mark it as a member of the design family.
No. 7 Top. David Andersen. The frame of this spoon is unusually heavy. The many multicolored, single cells and the 5 color arrays mark this spoon as the work of a master enamelist.
No. 7 Bottom. David Andersen. This demitasse spoon represents the finest design and execution in miniature.