J. C. KLINKOSCH, A 111-PIECE VIENNA SILVER CUTLERY SET, 1920s

JC Klinkosch AG – Austrian silver manufactory
800 silver (with partial gilding), stainless steel knife blades
Austria, 1920s

This classical Vienna table silver was manufactured by the famed Klinkosch Company in the 1920s.

This silver cutlery set for 12 people consists of:

12 large forks
12 large knifes
12 large spoons
11 mocha spoons
12 coffee spoons
12 desert spoons with partial gilding
12 desert forks with partial gilding
12 hors d'oeuvre forks
12 hors d'oeuvre knifes
1 soup ladle (another silver-plated ladle included by Berndorf)
1 cake lifter
2-piece serving cutlery
1 desert serving spoon with partial gilding

Josef Carl Klinkosch (1822-1888) was one of the best Viennese silversmiths who worked for the Emperor Franz Josef. Important Austrian artists such as Otto Wagner or Otto Prutscher made designs for the prolific Klinkosch Company.

In 1831 his father Carl Klinkosch formed a partnership with Stephan Mayerhofer and the partnership traded as Mayerhofer & Klinkosch. The company expanded quickly and within a few years employed several hundred workers. In 1869/1870 he ended his partnership with Stephan Mayerhofer and the company was renamed 'J.C. Klinkosch'. The company participated in the World Exhibition in Vienna in 1873 and the World Exhibtion in Paris in 1878 and won numerous silver and gold medals.

From 1855 the Klinkosch Company held the Imperial Warrant to the Court of Franz Josef. Klinkosch was a member of the Vienna Municipal Council from 1861 to 1862 and his customers were largely drawn from the upper middle class and the nobility.

Josef Carl Klinkosch was knighted in 1879 and could then call himself Joseph Carl Ritter von Klinkosch. In 1884 he retired from business, the company passed to his two sons, Arthur (1884-1899) and Isidor (1884-1914). In 1918, the company was acquired by Arthur Krupp and was incorporated under the name 'JC Klinkosch AG'.

Signature / Marks: all pieces are marked 800 and with the Tucan W4 mark, which is the Austrian silver hallmark for 800 silver, additionally the gold plated pieces show the maker's mark 'AP' for the goldsmith August Partsch, the other pieces all show the Klinkosch trademark in the shape of a knight's helmet
Dimensions: Lengths range from 32 to 10,5 cm
Weight: Total weight (without the Berndorf ladle) is approx. 5400 grams
Condition: very good condition with usual signs of wear and age
Provenance: Austrian private collection

Literature comparison: Waltraud Neuwirth, Wiener Gold-und Silberschmiede und ihre Punzen (= Viennese Gold-and Silversmiths and their signs), vol. I , Vienna 1976, pages 295 – 301 and vol. II (page 372)

Auction result comparison: DOROTHEUM, Jugendstil and 20th Century Arts and Crafts, 21.03.2016, Palais Dorotheum Vienna, lot 130 (for an identical Vienna cutlery set by Klinkosch, with 105 parts and weighing 3600 grams)