First Duke of Portland's Tablespoon

While researching another piece of silver, I found James Garrard's 1893 catalogue of the Duke of Portland's plate.  The catalogue contains descriptions of each piece of silver in the Duke's collection, together with a section of plates depicting the arms, crests, and other engravings found on the silver.  While looking through the plates, I had one of those "aha" moments where it struck me that I had a spoon engraved with a set of the arms shown.  Below are the arms on my spoon.

The spoon was made in 1721, but the maker's mark is rubbed.  A scratch weight of 2=11 is engraved on the spoon heel.  I had assumed incorrectly that the arms were those of the Most Royal Noble of the Garter.  Looking through the catalogue, in the section Antique Spoons and Forks, I saw entry number 551 for "Table Spoons. Three rat-tail, Old English pattern.  Plate XXII, No. 5.  A.D. 1721. Weight, 6.5 oz."  Plate XXII, No. 5 depicts the same arms that appear above on my spoon.  Given that the date and arms match, is it too much to conclude that my spoon is one of the trio listed in this catalogue?

Even if it's not, it seems fairly clear that this spoon did belong to the Duke of Portland, and specifically to Henry Bentinck, the first Duke.  After having been a Member of Parliament, Henry was appointed captain and colonel of the First Troop of Horse Guards on July 21, 1710.  By letters patent on July 6, 1716, Henry was created Duke of Portland and Marquis of Tichfield (Henry had received his wife Lady Elizabeth Noel's share of the Tichfield estate upon their marriage in 1704), and was in 1717 created one of the Lords of the Bedchamber.  Despite having inherited prosperous estates, Henry lost a lot of money in the South Sea Bubble in 1720.  On September 9, 1721, he was appointed captain general and governor of Jamaica, and he arrived in Spanish Town on December 22, 1722, just after a hurricane had devastated the island.  He died in Jamaica at age 45 of a fever on July 4, 1726.

It would appear that Henry had these spoons (and presumably other plate) made to take with him when he was appointed Governor of Jamaica.  What I am not certain of is if Henry received a plate allocation from the Jewel House, or if he paid for the silver himself.  The scratch weight leads me to believe it was government-issued, but the scratch weight could also have been applied during a later inventory.

Sources:

Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 33, 1722-1723. Ed. Cecil Headlam. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1934. British History Online. Web. 13 April 2020.

 
Collins, Arthur. Peerage of England; Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical. Vol. II. F.C. and J. Rivington, 1812. Google Books. Web. 13 April 2020.

The English Encyclopaedia: Being a Collection of Treatises, and a Dictionary of Terms, Illustrative of the Arts and Sciences. Vol. V. G. Kearsley, 1802. Google Books. Web. 13 April 2020.

 

Queen Anne Four-Tined Dognose Forks, 1705

At an auction a few years ago I purchased a group of four dognose forks, a pair and two singles.  I was most interested in the two singles: one dating to 1701 with arms for Frowde and the four-tined fork bearing the mark of Pierre Harache and the date letter for 1705.  You can read more about the four forks here.  Below are photographs of the four-tined fork.

Fast forward a few years, and I found a set of eight four-tined dognose forks for sale, all but two of them with the date letter for 1705, two bearing the maker's mark for Pierre Harache, four with that of Benjamin Watts, and two which I believe bear Continental marks.  Later matching crests were engraved on all of the forks.  On one of the Harache forks, I could see remnants of the thick sausage-like torse that seemed to match that on my fork, and the dognose terminals on the Harache forks were shaped like mine.

When I received the forks, it was pretty obvious that the two Harache forks from the set of eight were made at the same time as the one I already had. Below are the three Harache forks:

Below is a photograph of one of the forks bearing Benjamin Watts' mark.

The forks with what I believe to be Continental marks:

And, finally, a shot of the set of eight forks:

In the photograph above of the eight forks, it's easy to see the difference in terminal shape between the first and third forks from the left (the Harache forks) and the other forks.  The Watts forks' terminals more closely resemble the terminals on the Continental forks, which appear as the last pair of forks on the right in the photo above.  It's a shame about the later crests.  I wonder if the Watts and Harache forks were made for the same customer in 1705?  Did the Harache and Watts workshops have a working relationship?

Trio of 1712 Tablespoons Reunited

In an earlier post of mine, which you can find here, I described how I found a pair teaspoons to match one I already owned.  The same thing happened again to me recently.  Five and a half years ago, I purchased a great pair of tablespoons from 1712 with rubbed makers marks and arms engraved to the back of the handle.  Just last month, I found two more of these spoons from a different seller, which sent a wave of excitement through me.  I was not successful in my bid for one of them (damn you ebay snipers!), but I did manage to get the second one.  Below are photographs of the three spoons:

Front and back of trio of tablespoons.  The newest addition is the one on the right in the right-hand photograph.

Hallmarks on the tablespoons for London 1712 with rubbed maker's mark. 

Arms on all three spoons for Weld.

The date letter for 1712, the lion's head erased, and Britannia are all fairly well-struck, or at least easily identifiable.  The maker's marks are, however, very worn.  What is visible in each mark, but not so easily visible in the photograph, is a star, and on one spoon there appear to be two stars in the maker's mark.  Of course, one would hope this could be the mark for Willaume, but sadly we'll never know.

The arms to the back of the spoon handle, as far as I can tell, are for the family of Weld of Lulworth Castle in Dorset.  It is my opinion the arms are original to the spoons' manufacture and the initials "MT" were added later by heirs of the original owners.  There are a couple of Thomas Welds who married Marys.  Or does "MT" refer to a subsequent single owner without the Weld surname? 

It's always exciting to find spoons that match ones you have, and it's a reminder that silver collecting is a long game and always surprising.

Sources:

Burke, John. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland.  Vol. I. London: R. Bentley, 1833. Google Books. Web. 8 Feb. 2019.

Provincial Silver Rattail Teaspoons? Please Help!

Hello, and a very happy 2019 to all of you!  I hope it has treated you well so far.

Below are photographs of three rattail  teaspoons I recently purchased.  Two are 11.5 cm, with the third 12 cm, and they are fairly light in weight.  As you can see, the marker's mark "AB" is struck three times on one spoon and once on each of the others.  Is anyone able to help me identify who the maker might be and where they were made?  Thank you very much!

Irish Silver Rattail Teaspoon - But is it Genuine?

I have long been wondering why I have not come across any early Irish rattail teaspoons.  Even knowing that Irish silver wasn't produced in the same numbers as English silver, I still thought I would have seen a few for sale over the years.  Am I simply looking in the wrong places?  Were Irish rattail teaspoons typically unmarked, or marked with the maker's mark only, meaning they are out there, but not of obvious Irish origin?  (Woolley & Wallis had one for sale in 2008 with maker's mark only, which they attributed to Anthony Semirot of Cork.)  Enter Exhibit A below:

I purchased this teaspoon several weeks ago.  Thin and light, with a worn and wonky bowl, it won't be featured on the cover of a book any time soon.  There are no initials or crest, but I also don't see signs of erasure.  The spoon handle is quite narrow, and I'm not sure if this is the way it was made or if it was trimmed down at some later point.

The maker's mark appears to be AL with a pellet between, which I have attributed to Anthony Lefebure.  Jackson's lists "spoon" as articles made by this silversmith, making this attribution slightly less tenuous.  The base of the crown is just visible above the letters.

The spoon is also stamped with the harp crowned and Hibernia.  Jackson's is very helpful, in that it has photographs of the Dublin silver hallmarks beginning with the 1720 date letter in its Appendix 1.  The Hibernia on this teaspoon matches very closely with the photograph of Hibernia depicted for the year 1731. 

So, is this the real deal?  Having been caught out once before buying a piece of fake Irish silver, I'm hoping it's not a case of "fool me twice, shame on me."

Sources:
Pickford, Ian, ed. Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks of England, Scotland & Ireland. 3rd ed., 1989. Woodbridge: 
       The Antique Collectors' Club, Ltd., 2011. Print.

Early Samuel Hitchcock Tablespoon

According to Jackson, Samuel Hitchcock entered his first mark in 1713 (Jackson 164).  Below are photographs of a Hitchcock tablespoon which bears the (rubbed but readable, difficult to photograph) date letter for 1713.

The tablespoon is of a nice, heavy weight and very balanced in the hand.  The initials ME on the back of the spoon probably date to post-1750, so there likely could have been an erasure of earlier initials or a crest, although I don't see signs of it.  Hitchcock entered his first mark in 1713, and I like that this spoon dates to the first year of Hitchcock's career.  There are three teaspoons by Hitchcock also in my collection, which you can read about here.

Sources:
Pickford, Ian, ed. Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks of England, Scotland & Ireland. 3rd ed., 1989. Woodbridge: 
       The Antique Collectors' Club, Ltd., 2011. Print.

Irish (?) Teaspoon of Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry

Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry

The Honorable Frederick Hervey (1730-1803) was ordained as a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1754, became a clerk of the Privy Seal in 1756, and was appointed a Royal Chaplain in 1763.  The Honorable and Reverend Frederick Hervey then undertook an extensive Grand Tour, and during his travels in Europe he further developed his passion for art.  In 1767, he was elected Bishop of Cloyne, and the following year he was translated as Lord Bishop of Derry.  Bishop Hervey succeeded to the title of the 4th Earl of Bristol in 1779.  Lord Bristol was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1782 for his scientific exploration of Giant's Causeway, and received the Freedom of the City of Dublin and of Derry the next year. 

Below are photographs of a teaspoon which I believe belonged to Lord Bristol sometime after 1779, since it is engraved with both a bishop's mitre and the Earl of Bristol's crest.

The maker's mark, struck twice, appears to be CS, but I am having a difficult time finding a match to a silversmith.  Is this an Irish or an English maker?

Lord Bristol was said to have a fiery personality.  He favored religious equality, and financially supported construction of churches of other denominations.  He was also very political for a time, becoming active in the Irish Volunteer Movement and proposing in 1783, at a Volunteer National Convention in Dublin, legislative independence for the Irish Parliament.  This landed him in hot water and almost got him arrested by the British Government.  Hervey was an industrious and vigilant bishop, spending large sums of money building roads, bridges, and developing agricultural enterprise in his diocese and the city of Derry.  The Earl-Bishop took a lively interest in architecture and built homes at Downhill and Ballyscullion which he filled with works of art.  He also commissioned the Italian architect Asprucci to build Ickworth House, photo below, which was completed by his son Frederick in 1830.

Ickworth House (Photo by Squeezyboy on Flickr)

 

In 1752, the Hon. Frederick Hervey married Elizabeth Davers and had four sons and three daughters.  Perhaps their best-known daughter is Elizabeth who was the close friend of Georgiana Cavendish.  "Bess" lived with the Duke and Duchess and was a longtime mistress of the Duke, later becoming his second wife.

If anyone can offer a clue as to the maker of this teaspoon, it would be most appreciated!

Sources:
Blackwood, Loretto. "Early Bishop - Frederick Augustus Hervey."  Web blog post. Earl Bishop  Hervey. Blogger, 7 Oct 2013. Web. 21 Oct 2016.
"Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 13 Dec 2013. Web. 21 Oct 2016.
"Ickworth House." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.  Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 27 Mar 2005. Web. 21 Oct 2016.