Rare 18th Century Silver Sugar Sifter Spoon By JB Buchet~Sold~

A very rare and Delicate Antique French Silver Sugar Sifter Spoon by Jean Baptiste Buchet.

The bowl of the spoon is in beautiful ‘repercé’ motif showing a design that is found in the Provinces.
The hemmed round spoon is pierced with a swirling rosette surrounded by fleurons spaced with fleurs-de-lis
The end of the handle is unlined.

Jean Baptiste Buchet is listed as one of the Main Spoon Makers in Bilgi Kenber and Francois Hourdequin’ great book Les Cuillers à Sucre dans l’Orfèvrerie Française du XVIII siècle, page 224 and 225.

The work is extremely refined and the piece is in very good condition.
It is just a beautiful design, not typical however of the Rennes designs but much lighter then the ones found in Paris.
Lovely to use to sprinkle sugar over fresh strawberries per example!
The width given above is that of the spoon’s bowl.

The hallmarks are those used under the Fermiers Généraux system.
Visible on photo number 6 you have the Lettre Date or Jurande Mark with a crowned J for 1758 and the Flowered Nine (neuf fleuronné) topped by a Bee, for the years 1758 to 1760 in the city of Rennes, which would have been the Charge Mark.
While on photo number 7 you have the Discharge Mark in the shape of a ‘Mallet’ for the year 1758, hence the work would have been finished in 1758.

The Makers Mark, which is shown on photo number 8, is for Jean Baptiste BUCHET, who was born in 1699 to a Master Silversmith father.
Jean Baptiste BUCHET registered his own Mark in on October 17th 1724 and canceled in on October 26th 1771.
His Mark shows a J and B surrounding a Hermine (Ermine) which itself is topped by a crowned Fleur de Lys.

H: 7.28"W: 2.55"D: 0.59"Reference number: SF-183