Comprising 22 spoons, including an unusual child’s spoon, a pipe-cleaning tool, four beakers and a plated beer tankard, the treasure had probably been stashed away more than 300 years previously by the Von der Tann-von Haune family during the 30 Years War (1618-1648).
Naturally, the silver had oxidised somewhat in the interim period, but the items could still be easily identified and even a few inscriptions, arms and hallmarks were still in evidence. The maker HL conjoined, Augsburg 1585-90 appears on some of the spoons, and on three of the beakers a maker’s mark, V with a cross, a shaped shield, and an indistinct townmark in a shaped shield, c.1590.
With the exception of one spoon, which failed just short of its lower €900 estimate, everything sold within or above estimate. The lion’s share was carried off by the extremely keen UK trade, but the rest went to a handful of Dutch private collectors, one of whom was particularly interested in the archaeological aspect of the find, and a US private collector.
The highest individual price was the €5000 (£3450) paid for the 61/2in (16.5cm) high, German silver-gilt tankard with cover (pictured centre back), apparently unmarked, possibly Augsburg c.1590. The most sought-after piece, however, was a German silver spoon, 41/2in (11.2cm) long, unmarked, with a short curved raised stem engraved with a foliate geometrical pattern. Its shaped shield terminal is inscribed 1587, and the bowl is engraved with two foliate coats-of-arms and the initials of Hans Melchior von der Tann and Cordula von Haune, who married in 1585. It went at an above-estimate €1600 (£1105) to the US collector.
Engraved and back from the grave
Unseen hoards of silver like this don’t appear on the market very often, so it is little wonder that the UK trade were out in force when it came under the hammer at Christie’s Amsterdam’s (23.2% buyer’s premium) Dutch and foreign silver sale on March 4. The wealth of silver came to light when part of a cellar wall collapsed during the demolition of a house on Breitenstrasse in Bad-Hersfeld, Germany in February 1967.
