My Mom has collected open salts for years, limited to crystal, silver, and swan-form in any material - and being a researching fool, I've cataloged her entire collection. This wonderfully detailed Beidermeier/Empire-style piece, just 2⅜" tall and 2¼" wide, has a trio of swans rising from the base to support a delicately pierced band with a blown glass liner. It bears a "13." lothige mark indicating .812½ fineness silver, and a "P.B&C." maker's mark, used 1814-50 by Peter Bruckmann & Co. of Heilbronn, Germany.
Georg Peter Bruckmann took over his father's silversmith business in 1805, he was instrumental in the development of Germany's silver industry, a prolific manufacturer of quality silver and the first to produce machine-made flatware on large scale. The firm's name was changed to Bruckmann & Söhne after his death in 1850, grandsons Peter and Ernst Bruckmann continued the company's quality production after taking over from their father in 1887, the firm passed out of family hands in 1968, following Peter's son Dietrich's death, and was out of business by 1973.
Here's a short article by Karl Kemp, author of The World of Biedermeier (2001) : http://www.karlkemp.com/his_biedermeier_full.html
Search Amazon.com for Biedermeier
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