Manufacturer: Sterling Silver Souvenir Spoons

Antique souvenir sterling silver spoon believed to date from early to mid 1900s from research explained below, but don't know for certain, . There is no engraved date on this spoon, but on the backside of the bowl there is an engraved monogram, with three Old English lettering style capital letters or initials, "S M L". Word "Sterling" imprinted (rather than 925) on backside stem, along with "T. C. Tanke". From some internet research, T. C. Tanke was one of Buffalo's early, prominent citizens, and in 1857 became one of the city's first silversmiths. The Tanke retail shop sold jewelry and silver, and closed in 1989.

This vintage collectible souvenir spoon is marked "Buffalo " in raised letters on the front side spoon stem. On the spoon bowl is a raised image of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument which stands in Lafayette Square in downtown Buffalo in Erie County, New York. This is not labelled as such, but we identified the monument from internet images. This Civil War commemorative monument was the work of sculptor Casper Bulberi and architect George Keller, conceived by Mrs. Horatio Seymour, and unveiled in 1882. The spoon end has a formed/raised design of an animal, a buffalo.

Antique sterling spoon measures about 4 1/8 inches in length, 7/8 inch greatest width to the oval spoon, 11/16 inch greatest width to the buffalo animal design at the spoon end, sitting about 1/4 inch greatest depth/height at the upward spoon bowl tip. We would call this spoon size a demitasse spoon or coffee spoon. Weighs about .35 troy ounces or 11 grams. This will be shipped in a small box for safety.

This is being sold as is/as found out of a home, in its light/medium gray tarnished condition, we have not attempted to polish this antique piece (as some prefer these in as found condition) and don't know how it would polish up. There are no cracks, chips or bends to the spoon or large flaws that we see. Due to perhaps the tarnishing, there are some small darker spots among the general darker tarnished look throughout. There are fine scratch lines likely from years of polishing (given the age) and likely other expected light wear from being handled, sitting on display, etc. over the years, but nothing out of the ordinary or that detracts.

Please inspect the 8 images closely using the zoom feature for details and close-up views, noting that the camera light creates white "hot spot" reflections on the smooth sterling surfaces. Two of the images were shot without the camera light. This makes them appear yellow, but can help to show some of the detail which the camera light "blands out".

Please note: This item is only available for sale within the U.S.A. and will only be shipped to postal addresses in the U.S.A.

We have many other items for sale and should you wish to purchase more than one, please contact us prior to placing the order. We can help you save postage by shipping multiple items in one package but the website is not set up to do that automatically. It will charge the shipping as if each item was shipped individually. We would be pleased to calculate the combined shipping cost for you.

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