Collection Highlights
Abraham Lincoln, the Martyr, Victorious
Date:
Object Number:
PR.052.48
Medium:
Paper
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Table knife and fork
Object Number:
1946.10ab
Date:
1939
Medium:
Silver, stainless steel
Dimensions:
Overall (Knife): 10 1/8 in. × 1 in. × 1/2 in. (25.7 × 2.5 × 1.3 cm)
Silver Weight (Knife): 3 oz (troy) 3 dwt (98 g)
Marks:
embossed: on the handles: "A/ H" in roman letters
stamped: on the undersides of the handles: incuse portrait bust in oval surround with superimposed hut in conforming surround, "800" and eagle
Description:
Silver table knife and fork in "Formal" pattern from service produced for Adolf Hitler. Fork has down-turned, squared handle with Greek-key border and embossed eagle surmounting a wreath with a swatstika inside framed by initials "A/ H" in roman letters. Fork also has four curved tines. Knife has similarly squared handle with Greek-key border and embossed eagle surmounting a wreath with swatstika framed between initials "A/ H" in roman letters and flat. Knife also has a curved stainless steel blade. Maker's hallmarks are stamped on the undersides of the handles.
Gallery Label:
This knife and fork is decorated with an eagle-and-swastika motif and the monogram "AH" that identify it as part of the three thousand-piece dinner service presented to Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) in 1939 to honor his fiftieth birthday. Produced by the German silver-manufacturing firm of Bruckmann & Söhne, the service is ornamented throughout with an eagle with outspread wings, a variation of Third Reich symbols used on the silver and ceramic dinner services of high-ranking Nazi officers. The set was donated at the end of World War II by New York financier and philanthropist Carl M. Loeb (1875-1955). Loeb reportedly received the war booty from an American soldier stationed in Germany who was a member of the Target Force that captured the Berghof, Hitler's Bavarian chalet retreat at Berchtesgaden in 1945.
Credit Line:
Gift of Carl M. Loeb
Provenance:
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945); claimed by American Target Force soldier in 1945; given to Carl M. Loeb (1875-1955), the donor.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
