A small Silver tankard in the Rococo taste,profusely decorated with cherubs.
The base bears marks for Karl Kurz Silberwarenfabrik: Kesselstadt
End of 19th century. there are also marks just under the rim for
the English Agent/Importer, Theodor Hartmann registered in London and Sheffield.
The antique silver industry of Hanau chose to mark its output with fantasy marks. It is difficult to say if this was practiced with a clear intent to deceive. But it is strange that the spurious marks somewhat resemble old marks, and are also harmonized with the style of the piece. For example, French rococo style reproductions are marked with French looking marks, German seventeenth century-inspired pieces got German-looking marks, and so on. Furthermore, most Hanau firms chose as company marks styles reminiscent of seventeenth and eighteenth century maker''s marks.
Mark stamping as practiced in Hanau would have been completely illegal in France or England, or for that matter in an
...y other German city where a guild supervised the marking. But Hanau had a long tradition as a free-trade city.
With the production of ''antique silver'', Hanau found a market niche, which brought its silver manufacturers enormous prosperity and worldwide reputation. The ''father'' of this industry was August Schleissner. The other leading firm of Hanau was Neresheimer, founded in 1890 as a partnership of August and Ludwig Neresheimer with Jean Schlingloff. Right from the start Neresheimer offered a wide range of highly decorative objects like nefs, tankards, coconut and nautilus cups, and other sumptuous sideboard pieces.
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1110553
Dateline of this antique is 1890
Height is 7cm (2.8inches)Width is 4cm (1.6inches)Depth is 4cm (1.6inches)
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