Silver travel cutlery, fork and knife, Netherlands, ca. 1600

Museum silver travel cutlery in the Renaissance style, dating from around 1600.

Both the knife and the fork are decorated with curlicues and engraved.

The engraving has become worn over time, but a figure sitting cross-legged is recognizable. This is likely one of the rare secular scenes discussed by Anton Cruysheer in his article (Detector magazine, September 2024, p. 9).

This is a very rare, complete cutlery set bearing the name: Winandvs Lambertvs AZC. Both the fork and the knife bear this name; only the name on the fork has worn away.

During an inventory, 55 such handles were found in the Netherlands, almost all of them in museum collections. They are also occasionally found with a metal detector.

Based on the locations and dates on the handles, they can be dated between 1581 and 1636.

Such sets were often given as wedding gifts, often to the woman, but in this case to the man.

As almost always, the set is not hallmarked, with the exception of a re-hallmark stamp: ZI for 1st grade silver.

The steel blade is hallmarked with a maker's mark: a four-leaf clover.

The fork and knife are in excellent condition.

Fork weight: 44.6 grams. Fork length: 19.5 cm.

Knife weight: 37.4 grams. Knife length: 18.5 cm.