Expert: Martin G Roberts - 6/14/2004

Question
Have brass vase, plain, weighs about 10 pounds, 7 1/2 inches tall, base or foot 4", V's up (shape)5", from bottom that's about 1". Narrows to the neck 1 1/2" to the lip spread to 4 1/4".  A round cone shape.  The Brass is all one piece & pock marked, clearly from the making.  Has been in family about 100 yrs: as far as I can trace..an urn?  Tho. there was a story that at one time there were candle sticks. Then I've something very diff. to describe, most likely several hundred yrs old. My search leads me to believe, like a knife/fork/spoon from renaissance time that was purely ceremomial & the Icons at the top of each (each is diff.) rep. a family line or something like that.  From 4-1/2" to 6".  They are incredible works of art, both sides, intricate designs Norwegian/Denmark..Any ideas?  

Answer
The descriptions don't give me much to go on. However, the brass 'vase' sounds like a fairly modern design, and if hammered all over, as you suggest, then probably 1920s or later. Afraid I never believe family stories about the age of objects - such personal traditions are rarely accurate. Every family likes to pass down stories about the age of 'heirlooms'.

The other objects are so poorly described I cannot make a reasonable guess what they are. However, they may be souvenir type spoons, or a very late type of figural spoon. In neither case does it seem likely they are particularly old. But if you want a reliable attribution and valuation, you will need to SHOW the objects to someone - it is impossible to identify and value such things from vague text descriptions. To be blunt, if you have researched the items, you should be able to describe them more precisely. You do not even mention the material from which they are made!