Vancourt, NYC, 'Louis XIV' Coin Silver Cake Saw with Engr'd. Blade

This large, 11 7/8" long, 3.7 T. oz. total weight, coin silver cake saw connects to multiple mid 19th century New York City silver manufacturers.

It is marked on the solid silver blade front with an "eagle, V, bust" hallmark for James Vancourt. William McGrew in Manufactureres' Marks on American Coin Silver notes this mirrors a mark first used by Albert Coles and he suggests it was in turn reduced from a similar "C&V" mark used by (William L.) Coles & Vancourt in a partnership that lasted 1848-52.

The hollow, filled, handle is in the Louis XIV pattern that was patented in 1847 by John Chandler Moore, who was later associated with Tiffany & Company.

A very fine example of period silver, the blade is especially impressive.

Large scale, it has attractive scalloped margins and the requisite sawtooth upper edge that defines it as a cake knife.

The truly commanding aspect of the blade, however, is the engraved surface with an engine turned backdrop. Finely rendered acanthus leaf detailing frames a precisely etched scene of a castle or other stately structure, real or idealized, that is set alongside a shoreline with a sailboat visible in the distance on the water's surface.

There is a large, highly detailed tree along with other vegetation surrounding the structure and a wooded hillside on the far side of the body of water.

The blade back is completely plain.

The handle is engraved in a feathered script "J B M" monogram that is rendered to the same degree of elevated craft as the work found on the blade.

In immaculate condition, this appears scarcely to have been used in the near two centuries since it was produced. The engraving remains crisp and well-defined. The handle is without bends, dents, splits, or dings, and the finish is bright and even.