Antique French Sterling Silver & Ebony 16pc Dessert or Entremet Knife Set, 1820s
Absolutely gorgeous & rare antique French Louis XVIII, Charles X to Louis Philippe era .800 (nearly sterling) silver bladed dessert, luncheon or entremet sized knife set with elegant ebony or ebonized wood handles, silver inlaid carthoche and seashell style silver caps & collars! This was actually a set of eighteen, one has gone missing over their 200 or so years of existence leaving only 17pc so we just rounded down to a complete service for sixteen :). A elegant as can be, very French with the black & silver, the blades are all hallmarked and date them between 1819-1838. The caps & collars on the handles bear no hallmarks but they're also silver of course. The blades all bear the French "Socrate" or Socrates and "Hercule" hallmarks, the both narrow the date of manufacture to those above and also designate them as being in .800 or better silver content (at least 80% pure so just under the .925 standard for "sterling" silver). The slightly lower silver content is quite