Antique Porcelain & Fine Arts

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Chinoiserie Cane Handle Fork

This is a cane handle made by St-Cloud around the first half of the 18th century. It is oddly enough attached to an 18th century (I think) fork and I thought this was a one time fluke but I also own a damaged version of this so there are now two known forks like this out there!? Maybe made for a person that difficulty holding normal forks due to some sort of sickness or damage to his hands? The silver fork has two hallmarks that I cannot quite make out. One is likely a version of the Minerva's head and the other has writing to it so some sort of maker's mark but even udner magnification I cannot figure it out as it is not crisp enough. I don't know anything about silver hallmarks so I'll leave it at that. The cane handle is made of soft paste porcelain and has a really fun fish shape to it plus is nicely hand painted with a superb polychrome enamel Chinoiserie figural scene as well as some flowers and the fish's head/ face with an open mouth. The colors are superb and it is very hard to find polychrome examples like this by this maker. The piece is in perfect condition with a bit of qxidation to the silver. The silver part was obviously hand made as it is not quite even in terms of the grove to either side of the center one. It is unmarked which is common on pieces like this by St.Cloud but it was made by them for sure during this period! The entire piece is 5.75 inches long not accounting for the bend, 3.25 inches deep (the handle part) and 0.875 inches wide. The fork is 3.5 inches long and the cane handle is about 3.25 inches long. A fun piece for sure! A rare little item from one of the best makers from the 18th century! Not sure if it possible to remove the fork part and use it as a cane handle again but this is a much more fun conversation piece as is! Please email me for more information or other pictures.

Price is $999
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