Antique French Sterling Silver .950 Dessert / Berry Serving Set, Strawberry Spoon & Sugar Sifter
Gorgeous antique French Belle Epoque era .950 sterling silver dessert serving set by Lapparra & Gabriel in the Baron Gérard pattern. Comprising of a strawberry or whipped cream spoon with richly detailed scallop shell 'Coquille Saint Jacques' bowl and an intricately pierced sugar sifter spoon. Beautifully decorated in Empire styling with palmettes, flowers, leaves and strapping. Further enhanced with winged torches ablaze. Surrounding oval cartouches, blank of any monogram and perfect to personalize with your own engraved initials. The back of the bowls finished with laurel wreathes atop palm fronds columns. The pattern originally designed in 1823 by the 'painter to kings', French neoclassical artist Baron Francois Gerard (1770-1837). One of the principal painters of the First Empire and the Restoration period, Gerard was acclaimed by Napoleon I, becoming court painter to Louis XVIII (who made him a baron in 1819) and later patronized by Charles X. In overall good condition with general wear. Both pieces are hallmarked with the French Minerve 1st standard mark, which guaranteed the finest quality French sterling silver of .950/1000 purity in use from 1838 (95% pure silver and a higher grade than the standard .925 for sterling). Maker's marks for silversmiths Lapparra & Gabriel, active 1902-1923, at 157 rue du Temple, Paris. The strawberry server measures 8 5/8" length. Sugar sifter measures 7 1/8" length. Total silver weight of 138 grams.