Orfvrerie Wiskemann - Silver Plated Art Deco Cutlery Canteen - 168-piece/12-pax. - Original Oak Cantine - Belgium, 1924-1950

Exceptional silver-plated set of cutlery from by the house of Wiskemann, of Brussels. The pieces date from the Art Deco period and comes in their original, bespoke oak canteen cabinet in the Louis XV style. This piece of furniture has four serpentine pull-out drawers, decorated with shell motifs and flowers. The drawers with green velvet inlays for proper storage of the pieces. The whole consists of no fewer than 168 silver-plated pieces, suitable for 12 table guests. The pieces with an Art Deco motif, with wavy contours and an ornament at the bottom of the handles, and a geometrically stylized palm leaf on the back of the stem.

Consisting of:

Drawer 1:

- 12 dinner spoons
- 12 dinner knives
- 12 dinner forks
- Meat fork
- 3 Serving spoons
- Quiche scoop

Drawer 2:

- 12 starter/breakfast spoons
- 12 starter/breakfast knives
- 12 starter/breakfast forks
- 12 ice cream scoops
- 12 pastry forks
- 12 teaspoons
- 9 coffee spoons
- Wet fruit spoon
- Sugar tongs

Drawer 3:

- 12 fishing knives
- 12 fish forks
- 12 oyster forks
- Fish serving fork
- Fish serving scoop
- Salad cutlery (fork + spoon)

Drawer 4:

- Large soup spoon
- Sauce spoon with spout
- Sauce spoon
- Pomme duchesse shovel

A total of 168 pieces.

The cutlery is in very good condition with wear commensurate with age. Some microscratcing  is present. Five forks with a worn off teeth. There layer of silver well-preserved. The canteen in excellent condition both on the inside and out. A piece of the oak veneer is missing on the top. Please view the pictures for an impression.

All pieces marked under the tines of the forks with [OW][+][100/72/24 etc.] For Orfevrerie Wiskeman. This number indicates the amount (grams) of silver used for 24 pieecc in question.

Belgium, 1924-1950.

The canteen can be collected or delivered. Please contact us for a shipping quote.

In 1872, Otto Leonard Wiskemann, descendant of a German family with a long history in silversmithing, started a workshop in the Rue des Longs Chariots in Brussels. In the years before that he had worked as an apprentice in Paris, where he learned the necessary tricks of the trade. He had also witnessed the introduction of electrolytic silver plating, introduced from England to continental Europe by Charles Christofle. Thanks to this experience and knowledge, Otto was able to start up a company in the 1870's that would later become the most famous silversmith in Belgium and a standard bearer of quality. The heyday was between the two World Wars. The company finally went under in the 1970's; a century of history of Belgian silversmithing came to an end.