Rare 18th Century Silver Sugar Sifter Spoon by E Ruinat

A Rare and Delicate Antique French Silver Sugar Sifter Spoon by Ennemond Ruynat or Ruinat.

The rarest Spoons are always the ones coming from the Provinces, and this one is from the City of Grenoble located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
The bowl of the spoon is in beautiful ‘repercé’ motif showing a design that is found in the Provinces.
In this model the center of the spoon bowl is decorated with a crisscrossing network of braces bracketing a quadrifoliate design.
That design is surrounded by a motif called ‘feuilles à fourches’ or forked leaves.
The end of the handle or spatula shows a simple double line.
The work is beautiful and the piece is in very good condition.

It is just a beautiful design. Typical of the early to mid 18th century in Grenoble.
Lovely to use to sprinkle sugar over fresh strawberries per example!
The width given above is that of the spoon’s bowl.

The Marks are those of the Old Regime or Fermiers Généraux (prior to the French Revolution):
Photo # 6 we can see, or rather guess the shape of the Z that was used as the Poinçon de Charge by the city of Grenoble.
The spoon is probably dated between 1753 and 1763.

Photo # 7 we can see the Makers Mark for Ennemond RUINAT or RUYNAT (the name could be spelled either way), one of the city’s well known Spoon Makers.
RUINAT registered his Mark on in 1744 and cancelled it in 1778.
His Mark shows an E and an R with a crown above and an acanthus leaf below.

France 18th Century c.H: 8.42"W: 2.87"Reference number: SF-201