Elegant Suite Of 18 French Silver Oyster Forks By Hénin~Sold~

An Elegant and very Rare Suite of 18 Antique French Silver Oyster Forks, by ‘Maîtres Orfèvres’ Hénin & Cie.

The forks are done in the simple yet elegant Baguette Ecusson style, which loosely translates to ‘Baguette & shield’.
The shield is topped by acanthus leaves and bears an LH 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 original 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 HENIN & Compagnie. It shows an H the sign & and a C topped by a branch and a star underneath the letters.
The Mark was registered on May 11th 1875. Their shop was located at 33 Rue Des Archives in the Marais area of Paris.

Hénin & Compagnie were the successors of Thomas & Henin which first started in 1865. They were followed by Hénin Freres who registered their mark by August 1865 and cancelled it in August 1872. In turn they were followed by Hénin & Fils who gave way to Hénin & Compagnie in 1875.
Hénin & Compagnie were followed by Hénin & Vivier in 1891.
In 1933 the dynasty gave way to the House of Hénin.

H: 5.7"Reference number: SST-284