800 silver? Any info appreciated

It’s not marked; seems to be a little lighter than if pure silver. It’s about the size of a banana.

Back by Robert Welles posted Aug 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM

Front by Robert Welles posted Aug 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM

Spoon by Robert Welles posted Aug 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM

Handle by Robert Welles posted Aug 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM

 

Dutch silver plated tea strainer?

 

Here's a modern Dutch spoon with the same guy and handle pattern
https://www.juwelierariedekoning.nl/zilveren-geboortelepel-vioolspeler-opop-3352/

 

It’s about the size of a banana.

I've never heard that one before .......

Get thee to a tape measure !!!

 

7 or 8 inches? (17-19cm or thereabouts) That's about the size of an average Cavendish banana.

 

Ahh...so it's length, rather than diameter.
Good show!

 

I figured that's what he meant. Diameter - 4cm - ish? They're long and skinny and that would be an awfully tiny spoon unless you were using it for "snuff".

 

The perforations make me think it could be a tea strainer.

 

Looks like a Dutch sugar sifter. Tea strainers generally have a deeper bowl and a wide flange so it can rest on the teacup and on the bowl it often comes with.

The slightly blobby surface suggests silverplate, but check for tiny marks anyway. Dutch silvermarks are usually much smaller than UK marks.

So I guess pretty small....

 

Well, seems there's little interest in providing actual measurements for this piece, but at risk of turning this even more ridiculous, will say that I eat at least one banana a day, chosen for their potential quality rather than size, so know they vary widely in both length and width, the lovely example I just consumed measured right at 9" long without the stem. If there's interest in the purpose of the item (not the banana), then size is important - could be a sugar-sifter, a tea-strainer, or a wet fruit spoon.

Might suggest having it tested rather than guessing silver content by its perceived weight. Since it's almost certainly of Dutch manufacture, if silver would be extremely unlikely to lack marks, which could be small and almost hidden (even if silverplate, suspect perhaps a maker's mark might be present).

~Cheryl

 

My thought as well, AJ...

~Cheryl

 

Excellent!

Yes, they do.

Below a Dutch .833 silver sugar sifter, 'suikerstrooier' in Dutch. They come in different styles and shapes, this shape is somewhat similar to OP's:


https://www.twentsveilinghuis.nl/en/l/156556/schaakspellen/zilveren_suikerstrooier_1894

 

Oh, you Dutch - continually describing your silver as what it's actually used for. A self-proclaimed expert describes similar spoons, both the solid cream spoons (roomlepels) and pierced sugar sifters, on his error filled site as the fantasy 'monkey spoons', an American misidentification going back over a century (can remember his being corrected on that ID around 20-25 years ago in Silver Magazine by a Dutch silver expert). Goes so far as to suggest that The Met misidentifies theirs as a 'sugar spoon' since it's pierced (he also incorrectly cites that maker's birth & death dates as the spoon's dating).








~Cheryl

 

I'd be more inclined to trust the source than the Smithsonian. They're good, but they ain't that good. (as for me... yeah well.)

 

Bit confused, is this comment on the right thread? Which source? The Smithsonian?

~Cheryl

 

Dutch silver collectors like Anti about Dutch silver, instead of a giant museum.

 

.

 

now , I'm confused.....

 

Banana’s come in many different sizes!

 

Ditto, very.