Cutlery - the book of James A. Yannes - opinions about their level of expertise

[grygierek2]

Hello, what is your opinion on the books of cutlery and other items of tableware James A. Yannes
1. COLLECTIBLE SPOONS OF THE 3RD REICH
2. A Guide to 3rd Reich Cutlery, its Monograms, Logos, and Maker Marks


Best wishes and thank you for your opinions

[Antonio Scapini]

On the second book there are some interesting infos, but some pieces are very doubtful and others fakes. I don't have the first so I can't comment on it.

[BrianK]

Hope this won't come as a shock to the sellers of these pieces at thousands of dollars each.

[Br. James]

Thus far Jim Yannes has produced four books on the general subject of Third Reich silverware, all by Trafford Publishing:
"Collectible Spoons of the 3rd Reich" (2009)
"A Guide to 3rd Reich Cutlery, its Monograms, Logos, and Maker Marks" (2010)
"The Collector's Guide to 3rd Reich Tableware" (2011)
"The Encyclopedia of Third Reich Tableware" (2013)
Each newer volume has expanded the information provided by its predecessor, up to this most recent one including 636 pages! Jim Yannes has been a student and collector of German silverware for decades and provides a wealth of knowledge and experience, especially in his latest work, "The Encyclopedia." While his earlier books have generally 'flown below the radar,' "The Encyclopedia" has been quite well received and commented upon here on WAF.

Like so many other areas of Third Reich collecting, the various complexities of silverware manufacture and utilization have been obscure ever since the final days of WWII, and Yannes has provided our hobby with fine reference tools on a little-known subject, in both words and pictures.

Br. James

[BrianK]

I'd like to know if the potential fakes have been deleted in the latest book. Mr. Scapini please comment if you see a copy.

[CPB]

The books are useful in that there are so few other published references out there. I think anything that documents what's in the market - good or bad - is handy. If nothing else, it's a step towards something better.

[Let's face it too, it's still way better than Snyder's 'Treasure Trove' book which is largely junk. I own a copy of it, just so I can see what garbage he has leaked into the market over the years, and avoid it].

Let's use this thread to flag up which pieces in the Yannes book[s] are bogus.

Please add also your reason for each one, keeping it factual.

Then perhaps Mr Yannes will look to include our findings in the next edition.

Chris

[Antonio Scapini]

On page 28 there's a tablespoon with the AH monogram that is different from the same monogram showed in Griffith's book, the design of the tablespoon is also different.

On page 30 there's a very questionable AH teaspoon, made from WMF (and this can be possible as this was one of the most important makers of the TR that made the Wewelsburg cutlery too) but with a very ugly monogram. This pattern is not showed on Griffith's book and without a rock solid provenance I believe it is a fake.

On page 260 is showed a Wewelsburg Teaspoon. As far as I know the only original Wewelsburg patter is this one I posted here:
http://wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/s...ght=silverware

A lot of the SS Forks, teaspoons, etc are made in the same way, today considered fake, same services pop up from time to time on a lot of various militaria sites as ioffer, militaria321 and our old famous "friend" Snyder.

On page 280 there's a Hitler napking ring. These napking rings were discussed in the past, and until today no one proof is surfaced to support they are originals. Not only one period picture shows these napking ring in use during the TR, and they are not listed in Griffith's book.


Yannes book is a good work, a forerunner in this field, but we have to keep our eyes open as there are few references and before to say "original", we usually need some solid proofs that in the book are missing.

[BrianK]

Thank goodness the only thing I ever bought from Snyder was his Treasure Trove book.

[CPB]

Thank goodness the only thing I ever bought from Snyder was his Treasure Trove book.

The sooner that guy hangs up his gloves the better. He has singlehandedly done more damage to this hobby than perhaps anybody else.