Antique Japanese Arthur & Bond Yokohama Sterling Silver Spoon

This is a beautifully made, very fine quality, vintage A Michelsen, Denmark, gold over sterling silver, 1973 Christmas Holiday “winter solstice” spoon marked 925S for sterling silver quality. The winter solstice is close to Christmas with the shortest day of the year when the sun is the farthest away and signifies December 21, as the first day of winter. Christmas Holiday spoon and fork cutlery were started in 1910 by A Michelsen in Denmark. The spoons and forks were designed by well-known artists each year. In 2003 Georg Jensen took over the name and production of the holiday cutlery and discontinued fork production in 2003. This spoon is called “Winter Solstice” and is beautifully decorated with enameled figures embracing each other on the handle along with a bright sunburst above them. The figures are a family – mother, father, and infant child, and likely represent Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in honor of Christmas. The enameling is slate blue gray with silvery highlights. Size is 6 3/8″. The bowl is 2" by 1". The back reads: July 1973, IB Spang Olsen, 925S, 1973, Copyright mark, A Michelsen, Sterling, Danmark. Weight is 49 grams. Other than some light age wear surface scratches it is in excellent condition. All of the heavy gold overlay is intact. Bright and shiny. All enameling is also intact; crisp and strong. No dents, dings, gauges, tears, etc….The only wear mark on the bowl is where it sat and rested all these years. This is a lovely example of late mid century Scandinavian artistry by a well-known and highly repsected Danish maker for vintage holiday and or silver spoon collection. The sterling silver is very thick, substantial, and weighty at 49 grams!