Rare Suite Of 18 French Silver Oyster Forks By Berthier

An Elegant and very Rare Suite of 18 Antique French Silver Oyster Forks, by ‘Maître Orfèvre’ Philippe Berthier.

The forks are done in the simple yet elegant Baguette Ecusson style, which loosely translates to ‘Baguette & shield’ with acanthus leaves on the reverse side.
The shield is bracketed by acanthus leaves, but does not hold a monogram.
The work is particularly refined and the set very elegant.

They are perfect to hold and handle with a really great shape.
Each fork has both the Minerva 1 Silver title as well as the Makers Mark.
They are in excellent condition and come in their presentation box.
Sets of 18 were much rarer then Sets of 12 and usually showed a higher social status, this is enhanced by the location of the monogram on the reverse of the fork, which meant the tines were set on the table cloth instead of the back of the fork.

The height given is that of one fork.

The Hallmark is Minerva 1-1st title (950/1000) – 1838 -1919 – Paris

The Makers Mark is for ‘Maître Orfèvre’ Philippe Berthier. It shows his initials separated by a walking woodcock (in some reviews it was identified wrongly as a duck…but it is a woodcock).
Philippe BERTHIER first registered his mark on June 1st 1841 but with a different design (his initials then bracketed a garden well). The mark described above was registered on June 5th 1847 and cancelled in 1851. His shop was located 63 passage de Beaufort then 21 rue de Quincampoix in Paris.

H: 5.74"Reference number: SST-296