AH flatware

[CPB]

[QUOTE=Br. James;8301833]The shape of the handles are not that of either the AH Formal or the Informal Pattern, nor is the design along the edges of those handles familiar to me, but if they are engraved with the "AH" initials alone they could be from one of the many sets of silverware sent to Hitler for his birthday or for another holiday.[QUOTE]

BR James, see my above post with the screen grab from Mark Bando's site. I'm pretty sure the pattern matches the piece shown, commonly known as the Berghof pattern.

As for the bread server, you can see one of those on Brent's site.

http://brentsantiques.com/cgi-bin/Display_Item.asp?6318

[Br. James]

Thanks for your informative response, Chris, which encouraged me to go back to the early documents for another look. And sure enough, there in Dr. Griffith's "Collectors Guide..." is the same bowl as seen in these photos! Unfortunately Griffith did not number the pages when he combined his first two reference books to create his "Collectors Guide" in 1986, but there on what I count as page 43 is a photo of what appears to be this same bowl/dish, under the "Silver Service" section of the book. Griffith doesn't give any dimensions; his caption for this photo is: "Rare fluted bread plate, silver plate marked Wellner 18."

Also in Griffith's "Collectors Guide" are examples of this same tableware design you show as the "Berghof pattern," per the photo of the handle of a table implement 'liberated' from the Berghof by Sgt. Bill Knight. Dr. Griffith also shows us three examples of this same pattern bearing the engraved initials "AH" on page 12 (my page count).

Looking further, Jim Yannes shows us no fewer than TEN different tableware patterns, each bearing the engraved initials "AH" -- pages 40 through 59 in his "Encyclopedia..." -- though none of these ten examples matches the pattern shown by Dr. Griffith! One of these initial designs appears to be identical to the piece collected by Sgt. Knight, though the pattern -- the design of the handle -- is very different from that 'liberated' by Sgt. Knight; on page 45, Yannes says this about the piece in his book: "The curved monogram is termed by collectors as the Berghof pattern. It was also used on his crystal ware in the Obersalzberg area. Distinctive and unique to the Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat in the Alps per Mark D. Griffith's "Liberated -- Adolf Hitler Memorabilia," published in 1985, page 14." (This is one of the earlier monographs published by Dr. Griffith which was included in his "Collectors Guide...", which apparently did have pagination.) But Yannes says nothing about the fact that the pattern design of the piece he shows is very different from the one Griffith shows!

Going further, I revisited "Hitler's Fatal Sickness, and Other Secrets of the Nazi Leaders," published by Dr. John K. Lattimer in 1999. Dr. Lattimer, an American urologist, was one of the medical experts present during the Nuremberg Trials, and during his time in Germany he managed to collect a wide range of NSDAP memorabilia of all sorts, about which he published his book in 1999. On page 53 he shows four photos of a display of silverware which he describes as follows: "The vaults of the Berghof contained a large variety of different patterns of silverware. All of them bore Hitler's initials and his favorite Nazi eagle and swastika. There were place-settings by the dozens." That said, the period photos only show pieces in the AH Formal and Informal Patterns; none of the various patterns bearing only the "AH" initials were shown or presumably collected by Lattimer.

Lastly, I looked again through Bill Shea's Volume II of his series titled: "The Stories Behind the Treasures of World War II -- The Making of a Collectorholic." (His Volume I included no photos of tableware.) On pages 387-404, Bill gives us the background to his famous cache of AH silverware, which was 'liberated' by Sgt. Adler J. Muller of C Company 2nd Battalion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division -- the same regiment which Sgt. Bill Knight served with, per Dr. Griffith. In this recounting, Bill Shea shows us several large pages of photos of this fabulous collection of AH tableware, and Shea's photos are sharp and current, not only from the period. But this set of tableware is even more focused than that which Dr. Lattimer shows us in his book: All of the Shea silverware is of one pattern -- the AH Formal (State Service) Pattern.

I'm not sure what all this tells us, but here it is! Hope you find these comments as interesting as I did in writing them. Cheers,

Br. James

[a.h.]

Hi Mike,



I guess that could be a bread server, depending on the size of the piece...which we don't know. IMO the style is that of a candy dish, which would be smaller than a bread server, but the size would tell us more about the function of this piece. I don't recall seeing another piece of this design among the "AH" silverware.



You could be right that "The pickle fork, dinner fork and knife...have a different pattern," Mike, but I can't make out any detail from that photo. The shape of the handles are not that of either the AH Formal or the Informal Pattern, nor is the design along the edges of those handles familiar to me, but if they are engraved with the "AH" initials alone they could be from one of the many sets of silverware sent to Hitler for his birthday or for another holiday.



Those photos do appear to be post-war, perhaps from the late 1940s or early '50s, so there is no chance of reconstructing those photos at this point...sorry to say.



Br. James

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[CPB]

Anyone here going to the SOS? Would be great to get photos of any cool pieces that turn up.

[Felix]

RK gravy boat just in

Good evening gents!

There certainly hasnt been too much activity in this thread lately! Time to post some items, right?
Just got this RK Reich Chancellery gravy boat in. How does it look to you?

Cheers
//Felix

[Felix]

Side

[Berghof]

Looks good to me Felix. Congrats on your new acquisition!

-Mike
.

[CPB]

I agree, beautiful piece, congrats!

[Eric Von Rader]

Very cool! Much "rarer" than the AH example. There seems to be a lot of silverware now on the market. Several big collectors have passed away and their collections are starting to hit the auction houses. Now is a GREAT time to acquire examples at reasonable prices.

[Felix]

Thanks for the kind words gents!

It might be quite true that there are some pieces on the market right now. I have acquired some more.

Here is a RK Reich Chancellery tray marked Wellner 40, its round and 18,5 inches wide. Has some tarnish though and remnants of plastic tape.

Cheers
//Felix

[Felix]

I acquired another piece and its a RK Reich Chancellery sugar bowl. This one is in better condition. Marked Wellner 75 cl. and 22

What do you think about this one?

Cheers
//Felix

[a.h.]

AH flatware

I acquired another piece and its a RK Reich Chancellery sugar bowl. This one is in better condition. Marked Wellner 75 cl. and 22



What do you think about this one?



Cheers

//Felix

Felix, very nice RK piece.
I have my collection RK POT CREAM MARKED WELLNER.
https://www.memorabiliaofwar.com/



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[Felix]

AH: That is a very nice RK creamer you have!

I really like these!

Cheers
//Felix

[Felix]

I also got this RK coffee pot which I bought a few months ago. How does it look?

Cheers
//Felix

[Felix]

Its in quite good condition IMHO and has no dents.
I post close up of front logo with eagle and RK. Also the bottom maker maker mark of Wellner 170 cl.

Cheers
//Felix