Elegant antique French Napoleon III era 18k gold on hallmarked solid .950 sterling silver "vermeil" 6pc coffee or tea spoon set in box with ornate guilloche style decoration, oval medallions sans monogram and all in wonderful condition! A beautiful set, all virtually dripping in gold. Called vermeil, the French most often used 18k gold to plate these old silver pieces and, while we haven't tested these, we're confident that is the case here. Quite unique, definitely attractive! The set kept in what is most likely the original storage and/or presentation case. The spoon bowls all bear the French Minerve or Minerva and Mercure or Mercury hallmarks, the tiny number "1" within means they're in .950 silver content (higher than the .925 standard for "sterling" silver). There are also tiny diamond shaped silversmith marks of "A1" though I haven't found reference to them yet. I'll add if/when I locate a silversmith. A wonderful set, don't miss them.
Very good to excellent condition. A very slight bit of wear to the gold plating visible on some of the raised decoration and a faint bend possible on the handle stems. The box is in great shape, as you can see. It is possible that the box is not original but works for storage and/or display. See pictures for measurements and silver weight.
