Silver rice spoon, wed. A. Kuijlenburg, Schoonhoven, 1891

Heavy silver rice spoon, made by the silversmith Wed. A. Kuylenburg Pzn, née Borst from Schoonhoven. This hallmark was used between 1882 and 1893.

Wilhelmina Borst (1832–1912), better known by her official trade name Widow A. Kuijlenburg, was one of the few respected female entrepreneurs in the 19th-century Dutch silver industry. 

Her husband, Adrianus Kuijlenburg Pzn (born in 1824), was a skilled silversmith and engraver in the national silver city of Schoonhoven. After they married in 1852, they successfully ran a silver workshop together.

In June 1882, Adrianus passed away. At that time, it was legally and socially uncommon for women to start their own businesses, but a widow was allowed to continue her deceased husband's enterprise. Wilhelmina Borst decided to take up the hammer herself.

Under her leadership, the workshop flourished between 1882 and 1911 along the canals of Schoonhoven. Together with her sons, she produced high-quality Dutch small and large silver, ranging from richly engraved ginger cutlery and heavy rice spoons to stately table cutlery of this type with a beaded edge.

A rice spoon has a broad, flat, and symmetrical bowl. The bowl is a continuation of the handle so that rice glides smoothly off it.

The rice spoon is hallmarked with master's mark AK *47, second grade mark, Minerva's head, and year letter g for 1891.

The spoon is in good condition.

Weight: 84.5 grams. Dimensions: 7.5 x 26 cm.