A boxed set of Japanese silver octopus spoons retailed by Liberty & Co

I am delighted to have another set of six Liberty & Co Japanese silver octopus spoons in their original box.   They are immense fun with great expressions, gold or gilt eyes and shell (muscle) bowls. With lovely detail to both the bowl and terminal.

These spoons are all marked for Liberty, London, 1894, and carry the “F” London import mark.  They predate Liberty’s Cymric range when Liberty was largely selling only imported silver.

They are also marked S.M. whose mark typically appears on Liberty & Co’s silver in the 1893-1899 period.  The S.M mark has been documented by Adrien von Ferscht, an expert on Chinese Export Silver, as originating from a little known Canton firm working in Yokahama, Japan, Sadajiro Musashiya.  The firm’s founder and silversmith being Ozeki Sadajiro.  See this link for further information on this mark.

These spoons also feature in Simon Moore’s book “Artists’ spoons and related table cutlery” pages 50-52.

The spoons are all in excellent original condition, each with slight differences as these are hand made items.

Price: £1,000-£5,000

Maker: SM, Liberty

Designer: NA

Date: 1894

Marks: S.M.  Ly&Co, London, “T”, “F” import mark

Material: Sterling Silver

Condition: Excellent

Size: 11.5 cm long

Weight: 0.5 oz, 13 grams each