TWO-PIECE CUTLERY SET WITH KNIFE AND FORK German or Dutch, around 1700. Fully carved ivory handles with a depiction of Adam and Eve being expelled from paradise. Knife: Circumferentially carved and partially pierced decoration around a central tree with Adam handing Eve the apple of sin. Depiction of a stag and an anthropomorphic snake in the shape of a female bust. Octagonal ferrule tapering to a bolster. Double-retracted blade bolster. Pointed blade on the cutting side. Forge mark. Fork: Circumferentially carved and partially pierced decoration around a central tree with the archangel Gabriel driving away Eve and Adam. Octagonal ferrule tapering to a bolster. Double-recessed moulded bolster. Oval, canted fork shoulder ending in pointed tines. Knife l 21.1 cm, fork l 19.5 cm. Knife: Ivory with flaws on the antlers of the stag. A stress crack along the eve to the lower treetop. Minimal wear. Knife blade corroded. Edge chipping on the cutting side. Fork: Discolouration of the ivory in the branches of the upper treetop. Foot of the archangel slightly chipped. Small flaws on the branches. Traces of oxidation on the metal. Fork ferrule slightly loose. The iconography of the central tree of knowledge appears to be a popular motif in the design of an ivory handle, as evidenced by an earlier example from the Marquardt Collection (Cf. Klaus Marquardt. European cutlery from eight centuries. Stuttgart, 1997. p. 64, fig. 167A). This object has a trade licence for the EU. Due to the use of protected materials, this object may not leave the EU.