The first group of WMF cutlery marks contains the inscription composed of three letters, "W", "M", and "F", sometimes the letters "M" and "F" are joined together. All inscriptions are made with a "sans serif" font. In some cases, the dots inside the inscription and after it are also present. The length of "WMF" inscriptions (if no dots inside) is 2.9 mm. I suppose that some marks from this group are yet unknown. In some cases, the dots are inside the inscription and after it. The length of the "WMF" inscription (without the last dot, if any) varies in the range 2.9-3.9 mm. I suppose that some marks from this group are yet to be found.





























 

A full WMF mark image for the first group contains also some secondary markings. So far only the silver content designation marks (in grams of silver used for silvering of two dozen standard cutlery pieces) are known.





 

The second group of WMF cutlery marks contains the marks with four-letter letterings, with dots or without, which are the combinations of the word "WMF" with the letters " M" (rarely) or "N". In rare cases (napkin rings) the letter "B" is also used for marking. The letter "M" stands for brass (Messing in German), the letter "N" stands for nickel silver (Neusilber or Alpacca in German), and the letter "B" stands for tin-containing alloy (Britannia Metall in German), respectively. This is how the designation of the base metal, used for silvering, is made. All the inscriptions are made with a "sans serif" font. Often, due to lack of space, italics are used. Here are some examples of typical mark dimensions. The length of four-letter inscriptions WMFN in italics varies in the range 3.8-4.5 mm for cutlery and 4.6-5.4 mm for napkin rings. The length of four-letter inscription WMFB (no italics!) on napkin rings varies in the range 4.7-4.8 mm. There are some varieties from this group which are not shown here, but exist in the literature, e.g. "WMF.M" with "M" and "F" letters joined together, "WMF.N" with "M" and "F" letters joined together, both with normal letters and in italics. Some marks from this group are rare/very rare.





































































 

Now some comments on the marks of napkins rings. While the inscription WMFN (silvering on Neusilber) is given in italics, the WMFB inscription uses no italics. The two-letter inscription "OX" ("oxydiert" in German, "oxidized" in English) means artificial darkening of the silver surface to a grey colour. The two-letter inscription "as"in a cartouche means artificial darkening of the silver surface to a nearly black colour, the so-called " antique silver finish". The so-called "antler" mark has been developed from the Wurtemberg Coat of Arms and used at around 1900 on nickel silver flatware. The meaning of such marking is not clear. It could be 20 year jubilee of WMF firm or simply the celebration of new century. There are two varieties of this mark, one antler image is strait, while the other is convex. Here we are dealing with the "convex" antler mark. The size of the antler cartouche varies between 1.2 mm x 2.7 mm and 1.4 mm x 3.1 mm. Finally, the image of six-petal rosette, specially developed for napkin rings, means "Special order" or "Special issue".







































 

A special mark for WMF Argentan (Neusilber, Alpacca)-based silver-plated cutlery. It consists of the one-word inscription "GEISLINGEN" of 5.6-8.6 mm length, made with "serif" or "sans serif" fonts and put in a rectangular frame, sometimes together with the digit stating the amount of silver (in grams) used for the silvering of two dozen pieces of standard forks (or spoons). Rare.  

A full mark for this pattern includes the inscription in cartouche DRP 76975 (for marks GEISLINGEN 90, GEISLINGEN 60, and GEISLINGEN 40) and/or the antler mark. DRP refers to Deutsches Reich Patent (German State Patent). Here we are dealing with the "strait" antler image. The size of the rectangular frame with the antler mark varies between 0.9 mm x 2.8 mm and 1.2 x 2.6 mm.






















































 

The oldest WMF export mark which was used simultaneously on hollow ware and cutlery items. It contains a "fancy" three-letter WMF inscription, put in an oval. The peculiarity of this mark is a broken "F" letter in the WMF inscription. The size of the oval is about 1.5 mm x 2.8 mm. Very rare.








 

The next WMF export mark for cutlery items was used for items exported to the UK (or US) in the above-mentioned period. Such mark contains again a three-letter WMF inscription with dots (preferentially) or without. Contrary to the previous export cutlery mark, this one was made with a "serif" font and put in a rectangular frame. The length of the three-letter WMF inscription varies in the range 4.5-4.8 mm. Rare.







 

A full mark for WMF cutlery items, exported to the UK (or US), contains only few secondary marks. The fraction "I/O" means the normal thickness of silver deposited onto the surface of the base metal. The box "40" designates the silver amount of 40 g per two dozen pieces of standard cutlery, that refers to a lower quality silvering. The amount of deposited silver (in grams) for large items is given by the corresponding digit in the rectangle box (boxes "8", "4.5" and "2.5"). The size of the rectangular frame with the "strait" antler mark varies between 1.0 mm x 2.4 mm and 1.3 mm x 2.8 mm.
































 

The famous ostrich mark consists of the image of an ostrich set inside the "horizontal" rhombus. The size of horizontal rhombus varies between 1.4 mm x 2.1 mm and 1.9 mm x 3.1 mm, depending on the size of cutlery.





















 

The basic full mark for this period consists of the rhombus with the ostrich image, the factory name WMF (made with a "serif" font) and different silvering designations: "O" (means 90 grams of silver per 24 forks/spoons), "I/O" (means 60 grams of silver per 24 forks/spoons), 40 (means 40 grams of silver per 24 forks/spoons), etc. or digits referring to the amount of silver in grams, deposited solely on one item: 6, 5, etc. Silvering designation is often given together with factory name in one rectangular frame or separately. The size of the rhombus with "O" letter measured on one item from my collection is 1.4 mm x 2.3 mm. The size of the I/O box, measured on five items from my collection, varies between 1.8 mm x 1.9 mm and 1.9 mm x 2.0 mm. The length of the WMF inscription varies in the range 3.0-3.8 mm and in the range 2.9-4.0 mm if the WMF inscription is given in italics (larger for longer pieces of cutlery). Italics are usually applied in the case of space shortage for marking. There are also two secondary markings, referring to the base metal: "M" (short for Messing, which means brass) and "ALPACCA" (sometimes given shortly as "ALP. ", which refers to nickel silver). It should be noted that often the use of brass (Messing) is not designated at all. The size of the "M" box is about 1.6 mm x 1.9 mm. The length of the "ALPACCA" inscription is 6.4 mm.


























































































 

This variety of ostrich mark, namely, the "ostrich in vertical rhombus", was used for exported products. The size of vertical rhombus varies between 1.7 mm x 3.4 mm and 2.0 mm x 3.6 mm, depending on the size of cutlery. Beautiful and very rare!















 

The full mark consists of the rhombus with the ostrich image, the factory name WMF (made with a "serif" font) in a cartouche and box with silvering designation "I/O" (means 60 grams of silver per 24 forks or spoons). The use of brass (Messing) as a base metal is not designated at all. The length of the WMF inscription is 3.6-3.8 mm. The box with the I/O designation is either nearly quadratic with the size about 1.8 mm x 1.9 mm or rectangular with the size 1.7 mm x 2.1 mm.


















 

The next ostrich mark was developed for export goods sent to France, it was valid simultaneously for the hollow ware and the cutlery pieces. In my opinion, after 1914 the export to France was stopped due to obvious reasons and after that this mark was mostly applied to the goods made from non-ferrous metals and their alloys, like copper, brass, nickel, etc. The silver-plated cutlery products with this mark are rather rare. This mark bears the image of a running ostrich inserted in the rhombus with a two-line inscription WMF/G, which in turn is placed inside a fully-dashed arch. The size of the arch measured on seven silver-plated pieces from my collection varies between 1.2 mm x 2.0 mm and 2.0 mm x 2.8 mm. Rather rare.










 

The full mark put on the napkin ring contains the ostrich mark with the arch of 1.3 mm x 2.0 mm size. The size of the "B" letter, which designates the use of Britannia metal as a base metal for silvering, is 1.1 mm x 2.0 mm. The other secondary marks used on the napkin rings are discussed above.



























 

If there is only a main mark presented without any silvering designation, then the object contains no silver. As it was mentioned above, such mark was mainly applied to the ladles made from non-ferrous metals and their alloys, like copper, brass, nickel, etc. It slightly differs from the previous ostrich mark for silver-plated items, as it contains a distorted rhomb image. As a result, the width of such "rhombus" is noticeably smaller than the height. The size of the arch, measured on five pieces from my collection, varies between 2.6 mm x 3.9 mm and 4.5 mm x 6.3 mm. Rather rare.










 

This small-size ostrich mark was used in Germany for both silver-plated hollow ware and cutlery. It bears the image of a running ostrich put inside the rhombus with a two-line inscription WMF/G, which in turn was placed inside a partly-dashed arch. Sometimes, the form of the rhombus could be far from ideal. The size of the arch varies between 1.2 mm x 1.8 mm and 1.7 mm x 2.5 mm. A widespread mark.





























 

The size of arch on napkin rings varies between 1.2 mm x 1.9 mm and 1.4 mm x 2.1 mm. The absence of any letter near the arch means the use of brass (Messing) as a base metal. The letter "N" designates the use of Neusilber (nickel silver) as a base metal. The letter "B" indicates the use of Britannia metal as a base metal for silvering. The size of both "N" and "B" letters varies between 0.7 mm x 1.0 mm and 0.8 mm x 1.1 mm. The two-letter inscription "OX" ("oxydiert" in German, "oxidized" in English) means artificial darkening of the silver surface to a grey colour. The one-letter inscription "g" means "vergoldet" in German or "gilt" in English. Finally, the image of six-petal rosette, specially developed for napkin rings, means "Special order" or "Special issue".









































































 

If the full mark represents a combination of the main mark and the inscription "ALPACCA" (or the "N" letter in the case of napkin ring) without any silvering designation, then this piece is made from pure nickel silver. The length of the inscription "ALPACCA" varies between 6.7 mm and 7.3 mm. The size of the "N" letter is 0.8 mm x 1.1 mm. The size of the arch is 1.5 mm x 2.1 mm (1.5 mm x 2.0 mm in the case of napkin ring).











 

A special mark, developed for cheap pieces of cutlery with a low level of silvering, about 20 g of silver per two dozen pieces of standard cutlery (forks or spoons). The size of the arch is 2.0 mm x 3.3 mm. The size of the box with digit "20" is 0.9 mm x 1.3 mm.














 

In around 1920, two new cutlery marks were introduced, the first one for standard table cutlery pieces (including knives), the second one for special large-size cutlery (ladles, cake servers, spoons for ragout, etc.). The mark for standard cutlery contains a 2D combination of three letters, "W", "M", and "F", put in a rectangle. The size of the rectangle is between 1.5 mm x 1.6 mm and 2.0 mm x 2.2 mm. Rather rare.







 

The full mark image contains silvering designations of two types. Either the whole silvering process is designated (the amount of silver used for silvering of 24 standard forks or spoons) or, additionally to that number, the amount of silver deposited on the surface of one dozen pieces of concrete cutlery is shown.













 

If there is a combination of previous mark and the inscription "CHROMARGAN" without any silvering designation, then the object is made of pure nickel-chrome steel (patented by WMF under the trade name of "CHROMARGAN"). Extremely rare.

 

The second WMF cutlery mark for the same period 1920-1930, used for special large-size cutlery, consists of three-letter inscription "WMF", put inside the rectangle or, more rarely, inside a rectangular box (this could be an export mark!). The length of the WMF inscription varies in the range 3.1-4.7 mm. If there is a lack of space for marking, italics are used.

















 

The full marks contain the silvering designation for the whole process (the amount of silver used for silvering of 24 standard forks or spoons) or digits referring to the amount of silver in grams, deposited solely on one item (rarely). Note, that if main mark is given in a rectangular (in a rectangle), the silvering designation is also made in a rectangular (in a rectangle). If main mark is given in italics, the silvering designation is also made in the same manner.
















 

The Art Deco WMF cutlery mark for the items of higher artistic quality (usually for ladles). It contains the image of the running ostrich in a rhombus and similar to hollow ware mark, but contrary to hollow ware exists only in one version with the round tail of ostrich. The size of the rhombus is about 4.6 mm x 5.6 mm. No secondary markings were found for this mark.