Beautiful Silver And Ivory Melon Service Set By F Lapar~Sold~

A very Beautiful and Rare Antique French Silver and Ivory Melon Service Set by renowned ‘Maître Orfèvre’ George FOUQUET LAPAR.
This elegant set is extremely rare to come by! It is composed of 18 Forks, with their solid silver tines engraved with delicate floral scrolls in the Louis XVI style. The ‘Virole’ or Ferrule shows a lovely rosette on an ‘amati’ backdrop.
The lower ‘virole’ has a beautiful rendition of an acanthus leaf.
The handle of the forks are in solid ivory, elegantly carved and in impeccable shape, no losses and no cracks, which is extremely rare.
The Forks are double edge, with the lower edge able to cut through the melon.
The set also showcases a knife which was used to cut the melon into quarters before serving it onto the guest’s plates.
The knife shows the same beautiful floral scroll on its solid silver blade, and has the same lovely ivory handle and ‘viroles’.
While we have shown you several Melon knives set, this is the first time we have been able to find a complete Melon Forks Service Set! It is delightful!
This set is to be compared with the ones featured in David ALLAN’s wonderful book “ Le Couvert et La Coutellerie’ page 103 to 107.

While it was created with Melon in mind, it is a perfect Fruit service set, and can be used with a variety of fruits or even with desserts.
Set in its original very well preserved presentation box by Fouquet Lapar, this set is a perfect addition to a collection and easy to use due to its lovely and elegant design.

The forks are 8.26 inches long
The knife is 10.55 inches long.

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

The Makers Mark is for Georges FOUQUET LAPAR and was registered in 1897. Geroges FOUQUET LAPAR took over from his father in law, after Leon LAPAR’s departure in July of 1897.
His mark shows his three initials with a spoon underneath.
He cancelled it in 1925.
His shops were located at 25 Rue de Choiseul in Paris.

Reference number: SST-140