ASCAS Association of Small Collectors of Antique Silver ASSOCIATION OF SMALL COLLECTORS OF ANTIQUE SILVER
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by Giorgio Busetto
 
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CARL ADOLF KOHL
SILVERSMITH AND ..... CARTOONIST

Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs These silver sugar tongs bear town mark of Vienna (Austria), year 1847, purity degree 13 loth, silversmith mark 'AK' in a lozenge belonging to Carl Adolf Kohl, born in Belgern (Preussen) in 1816 and active from 1846 to 1872.
They are fully covered by an elaborate embossing with grotesque masks and floral motifs.
The tongs are 7 1/8 in. long (cm. 18).
 
Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs
Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs
Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs
Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs hallmarks Austrian antique silver sugar tongs with masks and floral motifs hallmarks

But this object has a surprising oddity.
The figure with thick moustache embossed on the silver tongs has a tight resemblance to Yosemite Sam, one of Bugs Bunny's most memorable foes on LOONEY TUNES Warner Bros. cartoons.
Yosemite Sam was the loud, short-tempered cowboy who first appeared in Friz Freleng's 1945 cartoon 'Hare Trigger'.
Through the years, Freleng put Sam in a variety of roles (some of which included a pirate, Viking, and knight) and he also co-starred with Bugs in the rabbit's Oscar-winning short, 'Knighty Knight Bugs' (1958).
The 1962 cartoon, 'Honey's Money', was Sam's only appearance without either Bugs or Daffy.
But, 100 years before ..... Yosemite Sam was already present on an embossed silver sugar tongs made by a Viennese silversmith ....
Giorgio Busetto - www.silvercollection.it
- 2007 -