AH flatware

[CPB]

Check this lot out. This is the only photo I can find of a huge auction from back in 1999.

Interesting...there are no Bruckmann napkin rings. I have never seen these attributed to a direct veteran bring-back.

BUT if they didn't exist [and the jury is still out on that], what kind of napkin holders WERE used?

[Brent Smith]

Wow......wow....

That was a real treasure find "WOW " WOW... I would like to have had a chance to have bought some of those AH pieces .. Thanks for posting that cool picture.

I have never seen a AH napkin ring that I felt was original . I think they were total fantasy pieces that started showing up about 15 or more years ago . The way they are constructed is much like those fantasy trays with the key pattern surrounding the Eagle and AH you see ..More than likely made by the same faker in my eyes .. Could they have made original AH napkin rings ,,? I guess it is possible but the examples I have seen floating around are not original in my eyes ... Brent

[CPB]

I agree on the napkin rings. Of all the haul pictures I've seen, they never appear. That said, maybe something will show up one day.

They MUST have used napkin rings though, surely. And if they did, where are they all?

[Br. James]

What a knockout photo of a collection of AH silverware CPB presents to us! I wonder where that photo was taken; from the furniture and the carpets it looks like a royal palace somewhere...perhaps one of Ludwig II's or The Residence in Munich? I assume that the entire service we're looking at is in the Formal Pattern, though I can't see that level of detail. But it does look like the proper shapes of the handles. This collection is apparently just that -- a collection of various pieces of AH silverware that someone put together, rather than a photo of the entire service as it was created. There seem to be odd or mixed numbers of the various implements: dinner knives, forks, spoons for various uses, etc., which says to me that this is a collection and not an actual display from the AH 50th Birthday Service. So, if this is just a representative collection, we shouldn't be surprised that there are various styles and pieces left out of this photo; while I don't see any napkin rings there, I also don't see any cigar cutters or drinking cups, and we believe that examples of those pieces are genuine to the period, as well.

I seem to recall someone showing us a receipt from a Munich jeweler for the purchase of pieces of the AH Formal Service, and that this receipt seemed to establish that while the largest portion of the AH Formal Service was probably produced at one time and for his 50th birthday, additional pieces were also ordered over the next years when they became necessary at one or more of his residences. After all, we have record of contemporary comments being made that guests at dinners at the Reichschancellery or the Berghof had no restraint in picking up examples of teaspoons or other silverware bearing the AH monogram as a souvenir of the event, and this must eventually have required Hofmeister Willy Kannenberg or his wife to realize that additional spoons or forks or other implements needed to be reordered so that full settings could be maintained.

Lastly, a quick visit to the website of "Germania International" produces very nice color photos of the pine-paneled dining room at the Berghof, the Wintergarden at the Old Reichschancellery and the dining room at the New Reichschancellery, each of which location was set up beautifully for formal dinner service. While the pattern of the silverware is not clearly visible in these photos, what is clear is that none of those photos included napkin rings for the service set out. Instead, at the Berghof, the napkin at each place was set upon a small dish to the left of each setting, and at the Reichschancellery dining rooms the napkins were placed at the center of each setting, to be removed by each guest as he/she sat down. All of these napkins were folded flat. While none of these photos was dated, at least the one of the New Reichschancellery was most likely taken after April 20, 1939.

Best to all,

Br. James

[CPB]

The photo is an auction promo spread, held at Gatsby's back in 1999. I contacted this auction house today to see if they kept extra photos and details of auctions from then and, unfortunately, they do not.

Your point about cigars is fair, although there is documented evidence that these were ordered for the Kehlsteinhaus and, therefore, the other big party buildings too I would imagine. But napkin holders do not show up on any documents I've seen and the fact they aren't evident in the two photos you mention just adds to the evidence against them. I guess Hitler wasn't into napkin holders. But things turn up in veteran lockers all the time, so it remains to be seen I suppose.

There is a good chance I guess that they were commissioned and given as gifts to Hitler by one of any number of people, then lay unused under the Berghof until their liberation a few years later.

Anyway...I'm glad you guys like the photo. It is the stuff of dreams isn't it...

Cheers

Chris

[Br. James]

Thanks for the background info, Chris. I was not doubting the originality of AH cigar cutters... Your suggestion that napkin rings were possibly separate gifts to Hitler is a good one; we should keep that in mind when other artifacts turn up bearing all the right details but not having been verified earlier. In this hobby, the shadow of doubt looms large, from both directions!

Cheers,

Br. James

[CPB]

Sorry, James, if it came across that way - my bad

[Brent Smith]

Show And Tell Pictures of AH Match Box

Here is a nice condition AH Match box complete with a vintage wooden match box ...

[Brent Smith]

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[BrianK]

Is that the one that sold for $5600 in the last Craig Gottlieb auction?

[Brent Smith]

AH Warming Plate "Wellner "Pictures Show and Tell

Here is a really fine condition AH / Eagle roll stamped Adolf Hitler Silver serving warming plate Mfg. Wellner (39) also serial numbered .. This is a heavy silver plated warming serving plate and measures 11 1/2 "

[Brent Smith]

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[Br. James]

Very nice, Brent!

Br. James

[ErichS]

Brent really comes up with nice AH silver pieces. I picked up my larger warming plate from him.

[BrianK]

I collect - among other things - TR personality items & have been studying the major dealers' websites for months. I can tell you for a fact that the AH formal pieces - solid 800 silver are by far the hottest personality items on the market, often increasing in price on a monthly basis. This is while items of other personalities, and even AH silver plated items languish. This does not make any sense to me, but I guess it's just part of the crowd psychology of collecting.