Silver serving tongs with carnelian handle, J. van Wijk sr. Amsterdam, 1846

Silver serving tongs with a carnelian handle, made by Jacob van Wijk sr., a highly esteemed master silversmith from Amsterdam who was active between 1819 and 1846. This object dates from his very last year of work, which makes it extra interesting.

The handle is made of carnelian (also called chalcedony), a semi-precious stone with a characteristic warm, orange-red to deep-red color. This type of precious, stone handle was mainly used in the Biedermeier period for luxury serving cutlery such as pickle, meat or sugar tongs and serving forks.

The wide, rectangular jaws with openwork (ajour) engraving are typical of 19th-century serving tongs. The open structure allowed cooking liquid to drain directly when serving.

The tongs are richly decorated in the Biedermeier style, with refined engraving of floral motifs and curls (volutes) on the arms.

The tongs are marked with the maker's mark IVW+, second grade mark, Minerva head mark and year letter M for 1846. 

The tongs are in good condition.

Weight: 142.4 grams. Length: 27 cm.