A mid-18th century steel and horn fork, German, circa 1750


Of two long tines, tapering to a point, their junction shouldered and shaped and fitted to a short knopped stem, the horn gun barrel-shaped handle encased in steel, the exposed horn mounted on each side with a pair of decorative plates modelled as bunches of grapes, 19cm high
|Compare a similar fork (part of a set with a knife, and clad with silver) in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, attributed to Germany and dated 1725 - 1775 [M.1113&A-1927].