French Silver Soup Spoon with Hermann Goring Crest

A silver spoon, approximately 6 3/4 inches long. On the underside of the end of the handle is engraved the coat of arms of Hermann Goring. The spoon is too large to be a tea spoon and would likely have therefore been a soup spoon. The bowl of the spoon has two hallmarks. One of these is the head of Minerva, the French assay mark indicating that the piece is at least .800 silver. Additionally, the bowl of the spoon has the diamond shaped mark with the letters “EP”, indicating manufacture by the French silversmith Emile Puiforcat. There were a number of pieces of Goring silver service flatware by Emile Puiforcat that were liberated by members of the 101st Airborne Division, and the presumption is that the set was commissioned from Puiforcat as a gift for Goring’s 50th birthday. Excellent condition.