Early Silver Dessert Spoons

John Ladyman dessert spoons with engraved crest of a griffin

When did dessert spoons first make their appearance?  In the Queen Anne and George I section of his Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver, Michael Clayton tells us that "[s]maller-sized table silver for 'dessart' appeared at the same time, but it should be remarked that even at this early stage they were made in smaller numbers than table-sized pieces, and for this reason are consequently rare.  They were also liable to succumb to wear and tear rather more easily" (100).  I take "the same time" to mean about the turn of the 18th century, since this is the period referenced earlier in the paragraph.

Eric Delieb, in his Investing in Silver, illustrates a William III dessert-size trefid spoon by William Scarlett of 1700 which is 5 3/4" long (15).  In the Dreweatt's & Bloomsbury Auctions archives is a listing for the sale of a William III trefid dessert spoon by William Matthew I of 1697 which is 6" long.  The Postal Auction section of the November/December 2011 issue of The Finial, Lot 79, lists a pair of Queen Anne dognose dessert spoons by Thomas Sadler dating from 1707 being 6 1/2" long.  Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold a beautiful set of 12 silver-gilt dognose dessert spoons made by Pierre Platel engraved with the arms of Sir John Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet of Radley.  The spoons bear Platel's maker's mark only, and their length is not provided.

A cursory internet search did not turn up any early Irish silver dessert spoons.  Do any of you know of any out there?

A few years ago, I bought a set of six Queen Anne dognose dessert spoons dating to 1702 by John Ladyman.  The spoons are 6 1/4" long and each is engraved with a wonderful crest of a griffin.  Confirming Mr. Clayton's remark, my set of dessert spoons has succumbed to wear and tear, with the hallmarks and the rattails being fairly worn.

Set of six dessert spoons, John Ladyman, London, 1702

Close-up of hallmarks on Ladyman dessert spoon

My spoons have seen their fair share of 'dessart,' so I'd like to think I've done Mr. Ladyman proud. And, I'm happy to find that, in Mr. Clayton's opinion at least, I own a set of rare spoons.

Spoon: John Ladyman, 1702.  Ice cream: Ben & Jerry's Half Baked.

Sources:
Bexfield, Daniel, ed. The Finial 22/02 (Nov/Dec 2011): 25. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.
Clayton, Michael. Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver.
       Oxford: Phaidon Christie's Limited, 1985. Print.
Delieb, Eric. Investing in Silver. New York: Clarkson N. Potter Inc., 1967. Print.

The Life and Times of John Ladyman (with some Irish Gold Tea Implements Thrown in for Good Measure)

Maker's mark of John Ladyman

As readers of this blog know, I have a thing for silversmith John Ladyman.  I don't own a copy of Grimwade's London Goldsmiths, but as a member of The Silver Society, I have access to their database of information extracted from said tome.  Although I am sure the print version of Grimwade contains additional details, the information I can access shows that John Ladyman entered only one mark between January and July 1699 as a largeworker.  Between 1691 and 1713, Ladyman's address is listed as Sherborn Lane, and after 1724 it is listed only as London.  I do wonder why Ladyman entered as a largeworker, since the only pieces I have seen by him are spoons.

John Ladyman married Sarah Wilson on September 27, 1691 at St. James church in Duke's Place, London (Phillimore 39).  As far as I can interpret from The Transcripts of the Registers of the United Parishes of S. Mary Woolnoth and S. Mary Woolchurch haw, John and Sarah had six children:

- Elizabeth, baptized April 29, 1692 (based on the date of the marriage and Elizabeth's baptismal date, does this mean Sarah was pregnant when she married John?);
- John, baptized November 5, 1693 and died on January 31, 1694;
- Mary, baptized November 19, 1695;
- Thomas, baptized June 10, 1697;
- John, the only entry being that he was the "infant and son" of John Ladyman who died on November 10, 1697 and was buried on November 11; and
- John, baptized January 6, 1699
(Brooke and Hallen 77, 78, 80, 82, 85, 260, 264)

Since there is not a separate entry for the baptism of the John who died on November 10, 1697, I assume he was born and died the same day.  These entries also make me wonder how quickly after birth children at this time were baptized; take for instance the first John who was baptized just over 6 months after Elizabeth, implying - only if John was baptized very quickly after his birth - that Elizabeth was born at least three months before her baptism.  Same query with the birth-baptism intervals of Thomas and the second John.  Of course, there could also have been errors in the original registers or they could have occurred during transcription.  I am unable to find a record of John Ladyman's death.

Five gold teaspoons by John Ladyman, 1711, along with sixth teaspoon, sugar nips and mote spoon, Dublin post-1730.  Photograph credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Edward S. Harkness, 1927.  www.metmuseum.org

The most interesting pieces by John Ladyman that I have come across are a set of five teaspoons made of gold dating to 1711 in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The five Ladyman teaspoons are shown with another later teaspoon, a mote spoon, and a pair of sugar nips all made of gold and all made in Dublin post-1730.  Each piece is engraved with a K surmounted by an earl's coronet, which the museum states could possibly be for the Earl of Kerry, a title created in 1722.  Now, if there are five of these gold teaspoons, a sixth presumably existed at some point, since a half-dozen was the norm.  What happened to this sixth gold spoon?  Who commissioned John Ladyman to make these golden teaspoons in the first place?  If the MMA is correct and the engraving is for the Earl of Kerry, the engraving cannot be contemporary to the manufacture of the 1711 Ladyman teaspoons.  Was there an original engraving on the backs of the teaspoons that would have given us a clue to their first owner?

Gold teaspoon by John Ladyman, 1711.  Photograph credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Edward S. Harkness, 1927.  www.metmuseum.org

To date, my small collection of pieces by him includes three tablespoons, six dessert spoons, and two teaspoons, all in the Hanoverian rattail style.

Front and back of three tablespoons, 1712, two (of a set of six) dessert spoons, 1702, and two teaspoons, all by John Ladyman

Engravings on the terminals of John Ladyman spoons

Sources:
Brooke, J.M.S. and Hallen, A.W.C. The Transcript of the Registers of S. Mary Woolnoth and S. Mary Woolchurch, haw, in the City of London, from their 
      Commencement 1538 to 1760. London: Bowles & Sons, 1886. Google Books. Web. 11 Oct 2014.
Phillimore, W.P.W. and Cokayne, George E., eds. London Parish Registers. Marriages at St. James's , Duke's Place, From 1691 to 1700. Vol. III. London: Phillimore 
      & Co., 1901. Internet Archive. Web. 11 Oct 2014.

Engraving on Flatware

Following are photographs of the engravings on the backs of my spoons and forks (essentially a reprise of my first post with a few new additions).  Each of the engravings is unique, and has become an effective way to identify the utensil.  My husband's favorite spoon is the Owl Spoon.  I, of course, have several "favorites"...  Recently, I was excited to find a little teaspoon engraved "MK," M being the first letter of my name and K being that of my husband's.

Gary Bottomley of Antique Silver Spoons tells us that one set of initials, as on all of the flatware in the first photograph below, could indicate that the spoon was given as a birth, christening, or baptismal gift.  Or, the initials could be that of the adult owner, usually the man if he were married.  I assume a single set of initials could also be those of a single or widowed woman.

Whatever the type of engraving - initials, cypher, crest, coat of arms - it served to identify the owner of the piece.  In the most recent edition of The Finial, Robin Hunt sent in an ad from the March 7, 1694 edition of The London Chronicle, which offers a reward for information about a stolen silver spoon and fork identified as being engraved with a "Tygars Head."


What are your favorite engravings on your flatware? 

Initials:

 

Coat of Arms:

Cyphers:

Crests with Mottoes:

Crests - Mural Coronets:

Crests - Human Forms:

Crests - Animals:

Crests - Birds:

Sources:
 Bexfield, Daniel, ed. The Finial 25/01 (Sept/Oct 2014): 12. Print.

Deep Thoughts on Early Condiment Spoons and The Mustard Caster

Item 33 in Christopher Hartop's Geometry and the Silversmith: The Domcha Collection is a trio of attractive octagonal baluster casters by John Chartier made in 1719 (50).  The large caster is 7 7/8 inches tall and the pair of smaller casters is 5 7/8 inches tall by 2 1/4 inches in diameter (Ibid.).   Below is a photograph of these same casters for sale with S.J. Shrubsole:

Set of three casters by John Chartier, London, 1719.  Photograph courtesy of S.J. Shrubsole.

Mr. Hartop notes that "[i]t is evident that these sets of casters were used for sprinkling ground substances on food..." and states that sugar is the likely candidate for the large caster and mustard and ground pepper for the smaller (Ibid.).  However, he notes that "the idea prevalent among silver writers that mustard was sprinkled as a powder on to meats is not documented (Ibid.).  Mr. Hartop then cites contemporary descriptions of mustard as being mustard seed mixed with other ingredients to make a paste, and suggests that, because some smaller casters have "blind" covers, it was the paste version of mustard that was served from them (50-51).

If it was the case that powdered mustard was not used and that mustard paste was, how was the mustard paste transferred from the caster to the diner's plate?  Since the covers were blind, the diner could not pour the mustard through the piercing onto his or her plate.  Even if the caster were not blind, this method would seem to have been fairly messy.  This suggests that the diner had to remove the top of the caster in order to get at the mustard.  Where, then, did the top go?  A possible answer is found in a photograph in Michael Clayton's Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver.  This photograph shows a cruet frame of 1719 holding glass bottles and three silver casters of 1724 (104).   Cruet stands typically have a lower surface that the containers rest on, as well as elevated rings of silver to hold the containers in place when the stand is picked up by its central handle.  The photograph in Clayton's book shows two rings of silver without a lower surface, and in one of these rings rests the top of a caster (Ibid.).  So, it would appear that the lid to the mustard caster would be set into one of these rings.

There must have been a spoon for dipping the mustard out of the caster.  I assume that each guest was not provided with their own mustard spoon, meaning that the spoon stayed in the caster.  The spoon, of course, would need to be tall enough to stand above the caster rim.  Mustard spoons and small ladles are widely found from the George III period, but they don't seem as numerous from earlier periods.  Millicent Ford Creech has for sale what is described as a rare early 18th century Hanoverian rattail mustard spoon.  It is 2 1/2 inches long (which doesn't seem tall enough to stand above the caster rim, so perhaps this smaller spoon was rested on a small dish or the diner's plate after use and did not stand in the caster).  David Whitbread, in the  20/05 edition of The Finial , discusses early tea and condiment spoons and illustrates several from his own collection.  What I find interesting and very practical is his statement that, "...as well as using [them] for tea, earlier owners could have also used [them] to eat sweetmeats or a boiled egg, to take medicine and for any other purpose appropriate to [their] size" (10).  Those in his collection that have "outsize bowls" he has been told are condiment or spice spoons (11).  David McKinley, in a follow-up article to Mr. Whitbread's in the 20/06 edition of The Finial, also says that a large bowl in proportion to overall spoon size has been said to indicate its use as a condiment spoon, but is unsure why this should be the case (8).  Perhaps these spoons with the outsize bowls were mustard spoons used with these early casters, but it could just as well be the case that small spoons we know as teaspoons could also have been employed for the purpose.

Is it possible that black pepper and cayenne pepper were used in the non-blind casters in a set of three?  Perhaps, but there are order accounts which imply that sugar, pepper, and mustard were the great triad of caster condiments: In 1689, William Fitzhugh of Virginia ordered from London "a Sett of Castors that is to say for Mustard, Pepper & Sugar (Hartop 50); and the Earl of Orford was sent "sugar pepper and mustard casters" (51). 

If mustard paste was served from a caster, was it the resulting inconvenience that caused the silver mustard barrel/pot to come into being?  In 1724, Horatio Walpole was issued two mustard barrels and two spoons from the Jewel Office (Hartop 51).  Walpole also received two mustard glasses in this order (Ibid.).  I am not sure if these mustard glasses were inserts for the silver mustard barrels, or if they stood as mustard containers on their own, perhaps used when dining en famille.  Mr. Hartop notes further that by the third quarter of the 18th century, the mustard caster was being replaced by the mustard pot (Ibid.). 

Sources:
 Clayton, Michael. Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver.
       Oxford: Phaidon Christie's Limited, 1985. Print.
Hartop, Christopher. Geometry and the Silversmith: The Domcha Collection.
       Cambridge: John Adamson, 2008. Print. 
McKinley, David. "Further Thoughts on Early 18th Century Small Spoons." The Finial 20/06 (Jul/Aug 2010): 8.   
      Web. 17 Aug 2014.
Whitbread, David. "Trefid Tea and Condiment Spoons." The Finial 20/05 (May/June 2010): 10-11. Web. 17 Aug 2014.

Early Irish Silver Teaspoons (Where are They?) and Streets Named For Dublin Silversmiths

Lately, I have increased the number of teaspoons in my collection and have enjoyed using the little utensils.  This evening, it's the trefid:

All of my teaspoons, save the trefid, are Hanoverian rattails.  While stirring my tea, thinking about silver (as one does), a thought occurred to me: Why have I never come across an early Irish rattail teaspoon?  Early English rattail examples are relatively easy to find, but in the retail setting - and in the fairly limited books I own and museums I have visited - I have not seen even one early Irish teaspoon.  Even knowing that early Irish flatware is not as profuse as its English counterpart, I would have expected to have seen at least one or two early Irish examples.  Does anyone know of any early Irish teaspoons out there?

Now, on to another topic concerning Irish silver.  In a Lot Note from Christie's, I read the following statement with interest: "David King was one of three Dublin goldsmiths honoured for his services to the trade by having a street named after him."  Since Christie's doesn't mention the other two goldsmiths, I was curious to find out who they are.  While there is a South King Street and a North King Street, an entry in Weldon's silver blog states that South King Street is our man.  Weldon's blog describes Mr. King as a "superb early silversmith" and illustrates examples of his work.  David King was Master of the Company of Goldsmiths from 1699-1700 and was a member of the lower house - the Sheriffs and Commons - of the Dublin Corporation, now known as the Dublin City Council.  Mr. King became a freeman in 1690 and died in 1737 (Bennett, 147).

Photo of the Gaiety Theatre on South King Street.  Photo courtesy of GraftonStreet.ie

The second Dublin silversmith I found to have had a street named after him is Jeremiah D'Olier.  Douglas Bennett (142) tells us that Mr. D'Olier was born in 1747, became a freeman in 1770 and was elected Master of the Company of Goldsmiths in 1781.  Like David King before him, Mr. D'Olier was elected to the Sheriffs and Commons, and he was made a Sheriff's Peer in 1790 (Ibid.).  He was a founder of the Bank of Ireland and, according to Wikipedia, a member of the Commissioners for Making Wide and Convenient Ways, Streets and Passages, which you can read more about here.  Mr. D'Olier died in 1816.

D'Olier Street.  © Copyright Eric Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

I thought I was stumped on the third one, until I re-read Chapter 7 of Douglas Bennett's Collecting Irish Silver, which identifies Thomas Bolton as the third man.  According to Bennett, Thomas Bolton was made a freeman in 1686, was Master of the Company of Goldsmiths from 1692-1693, and was the Assay Master between 1692 and 1697 (139).  Henry F. Berry, in a paper published in The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Dublin (127) notes that on November 1, 1696, Thomas Bolton presented the Company of Goldsmiths with a large green tablecloth as a gift.  I suppose the premises needed some sprucing up.  When the new Goldsmiths Hall was being built, the Company decided to sell some of its plate - two silver bowls with covers and two large silver cups - to go towards the cost of the hall.  Thomas Bolton was the purchaser (131).  One wonders if Bolton kept these items for personal use, or sold them.  Thomas Bolton also made a loan of 200 Pounds to the Company to help with expenses of the new hall (McCormack, 116).  In 1716, Mr. Bolton was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin.  The Company of Goldsmiths presented a pair of cups engraved by Jonas Heaven to Mr. Bolton valued at 35 Pounds to mark the occasion (Bennett, 135).  However, towards the end of his life, Mr. Bolton experienced money troubles.  In 1730, he applied to the Company for a pension, and "our reduced brother" was given 10 Pounds a year until his death in 1736 (McCormack, 116).  For a more in-depth look at the life and work of Thomas Bolton, see John McCormack's article from the Irish Arts Review.

Dublin Institute of Technology building on Bolton Street.  Photo courtesy of Flukey's Virtual Walking Tour of Dublin

Sources:
"Antique Irish Silver Maker's Marks from A-L." Weldons of Dublin, 25 July 2013. Web. 12 Aug 2014.
Bennett, Douglas. Collecting Irish Silver. London: Souvenir Press Ltd., 1984. Print.
Berry, Henry F. "The Goldsmiths' Company of Dublin (Gild of All Saints)." The Journal of the Royal Society of 
     Antiquaries of Ireland 6.5 (1901): 119-133. Google Books. Web. 13 Aug 2014.
"D'Olier Street." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Dec 2013. Web. 12 Aug 2014.
McCormack, John. "The Sumptuous Silver of Thomas Bolton (1658-1736)." Irish Arts Review 11 (1995): 112-116. JSTOR. Web. 13 
     Aug 2014.

Reunited and it Feels so Good: a Set of Three Rattail Teaspoons

About a year ago, I purchased this Britannia-standard teaspoon:

Britannia-standard teaspoon, Samuel Hitchcock, London

Close-up of hallmarks and initials

The teaspoon was made by Samuel Hitchcock, who, according to Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks, entered his first mark in 1713 (164).  From general research it appears that Mr. Hitchcock was by and large a spoon maker.  The back of the teaspoon is crudely initialed "EI."  The one feature on this teaspoon that stands out is the shape of the punch around the lion's head erased.  To date, I have not seen the lion's head erased in the same shield-shaped punch...that is, until about a week ago.

About a week ago, I spotted a pair of Britannia-standard teaspoons by Samuel Hitchcock.  Not only is this pair engraved with the same crude "EI," but they are also marked with the lion's head erased in the same shield-shaped punch.

Here is the pair of teaspoons:

Front and back of pair of Britannia-standard teaspoons, Samuel Hitchcock, London

Close-up of hallmarks and initials on pair of teaspoons

I always keep an eye out for spoons or forks that match those I already have, but the closest I've come is finding a set of tablespoons with the same stork crest, but the maker and date were different.  Now, of course, I'm convinced that there are three other teaspoons out there matching these just waiting to be found.  The hunt is on!

Together again at last

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

The Use of the Britannia Standard After 1720

In 1696, 396 years after the standard for silver plate was established, a law was passed which decreed that beginning March 25, 1697, all plate had to be made of silver with a fineness of 11oz. 10dwts. of silver in every pound Troy (Pickford 38).  This meant that any piece of plate should have been composed of 95.8% fine silver.  However, as Mr. Anthony Dove points out in his article in the November/December 2007 issue of The Finial, this was not always the case.

This standard is commonly known today as the Britannia standard.  I am not sure what it was called back in the day (perhaps just the New Standard, or The Pain in the Butt Standard).  The Britannia standard was not obligatory after June 1, 1720 (Pickford 39), but some silversmiths chose to continue using the higher standard.  One of the most famous of these, I suppose, is Paul de Lamerie.  One has only to flip through Christopher Hartop's The Huguenot Legacy to see several examples of Lamerie's post-1720 work executed in Britannia standard silver (152, 158 162, 164).  Indeed, Judith Banister (25) tells us that Mr. de Lamerie continued to use the higher standard until 1732.

From my own collection, I can add that Jane Lambe and William Fleming also continued to work in the Britannia standard after 1720, although I don't know how long either of them did so.  Following are photographs of a spoon from 1724 by Jane Lambe in the Britannia standard with a crest and motto of "Festina Lente," or "hasten slowly."  This spoon is of lovely quality and has a beautiful color and patina.  It is my only non-rattail spoon.

Britannia Standard tablespoon, Jane Lambe, London, 1724

Hallmarks, Jane Lambe, London, 1724, and close-up of crest and motto

Following are photographs of a milk jug by William Fleming of 1722 in the Britannia standard.  This little milk jug is, I have to say, absolutely charming.  It is beautifully made and feels wonderful in the hand.  I love the shape of it.  Although my little Lamerie tea bowl is my favorite piece of silver, this jug runs an extremely close second.

Milk jug, William Fleming, London, 1722

Close-up of hallmarks on milk jug, William Fleming, London, 1722

According to Ms. Banister, although tea was originally taken plain, it became popular to take warm milk or cream in tea in the 1720s (Plate 54).  This seems to be corroborated by Eric Delieb (81), who notes that milk jugs originated in the early 18th century but really took off after 1720. 

I was able to find a couple of other examples of post-1720 work by Jane Lambe and William Fleming in the Britannia standard.  One is a basting spoon by Jane Lambe from 1723 and the other is a tankard by William Fleming also from 1723.  Other examples I found of post-1720 Britannia standard silver wares are a coffee pot by John Hugh le Sage of 1722; a snuffer tray by John Pero of 1722; a very similar cream jug by Nathaniel Gulliver of 1723 in Harvard's Fogg Museum; the Treby toilet service by Paul de Lamerie of 1724 in the Ashmolean; and a sauce boat by Anthony Nelme of 1725.  So, it would seem that the practice of using the Britannia standard after 1720 wasn't exceptional, and that several silversmiths continued to do so.

Bonhams sold a cream jug by Thomas Mason of 1725 in the sterling standard.  Take a look at the handle.  It appears to be the same handle as that on my jug.  Were there silversmiths who specialised in providing other silversmiths with items such as cast handles, finials, etc.?

For those silversmiths who continued using the Britannia standard after it ceased to be compulsory, was it their choice to do so, or did their clients request it?

Sources:
Banister, Judith. English Silver. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1966. Print.
Delieb, Eric. Investing in Silver. New York: Clarkson N. Potter Inc., 1967. Print.
Hartop, Christopher. The Huguenot Legacy: English Silver 1680-1760 from the Alan and Simone Hartman
       Collection. London: Thomas Heneage & Co. Ltd, 1996. Print. 
Pickford, Ian, ed. Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks of England, Scotland & Ireland. 3rd ed., 1989. Woodbridge: 
       The Antique Collectors' Club, Ltd., 2011. Print.

Irish Silver in San Antonio, Texas

What better way to celebrate my birthday than to take a trip to the San Antonio Museum of Art to view its fantastic collection of Irish silver?  Guess what I didn't do?  Take photographs of the silver.  I'd like to attribute this omission to the fact that I was so overwhelmed by the beauty and rarity of the silver before me, but perhaps it has more to do with old age...

There were several pieces that especially caught my attention on this visit: the little cream jug by William Clarke of Cork circa 1725; the slip top spoon of 1655/56 engraved with the arms of the Stephens family of County Waterford; the covered sugar bowl by Peter Racine of 1736/37 that is just three inches tall; the pair of small tankards by Thomas Walker circa 1730, which sit on flat non-footed bases (I don't recall seeing a tankard without a foot); the two pairs of salts by John Hamilton circa 1730, which look like four small footed bowls instead of the more prevalent trencher type; the herb pot by Thomas Walker circa 1735, which is just exquisite in its smallness, with its tiny wooden handle and finial (you can have your very own one of these, as Weldon's has one for sale); and the four horseshoes given as racing prizes made by James Le Bas in1843.

One piece of silver in the collection, a flask by Thomas Walker circa 1740, is engraved with an inscription of "The Gift of / Will.m Jocelyn Shaw Esq.r / To / Gorges Lowther Esq.r."  This piece is of especial interest because I have a silver box presented by the Dublin Corporation of Weavers to Gorges Lowther.  You can read more about this box in an earlier posting here.  Not knowing any better, I can only assume that the flask and the box were presented to the same Gorges Lowther, Esq.  Another surprise was seeing a presentation box in the museum with the same arms engraved on the lid as on mine.  The museum's box was presented by the Corporation of Sheermen and Dyers (which must have been a subsidiary of the Corporation of Weavers, since it used the same arms) to Luke Gardiner.  The box is also by James Kennedy, and dates to circa 1775.  The style of the engraving on the museum's box is very much the same as that on mine.

In a previous post, I discussed a pair of Irish octofoil salvers separated at birth, one of which is in the San Antonio Museum of Art collection.  The other is with a private dealer and is listed as being unmarked.  After viewing the salver in the museum, however, it seems likelier that the salver with the dealer was marked, but that the hallmarks have worn away.  I posit this because of the three marks present on the museum salver, only John Hamilton's maker's mark of "IH" is discernible, and even then this mark is worn and the crown surmounting the initials is completely worn away.  One can see that there are two other marks present (the harp crowned and the date letter), but these are likewise extremely worn.  So, it is possible that the salver with the dealer was not originally an unmarked piece.

Seeing so many stunning and unique objects of silver in one place is almost overwhelming, in a very good way.  I didn't know where to look first.  Thank goodness my husband and I were the only ones in the gallery, as I just kept up a running commentary about the pieces and how wonderful they were, and how the engraving on a piece seemed to be later than the date of manufacture, and how I wished I owned this piece or that, etc., etc.  I often complain that Texas is devoid of good silver shops (there was a good one in Salado - they had a lovely Lamerie tankard - but they closed down due to the owners' health issues; the owners said that years ago, they had decided to purchase silver as an investment and that selling their collection over time had supported them financially), but how lucky Texans are to have such a world-class collection of Irish silver in their state.  And it's all thanks to Mr. John V. Rowan, Jr., who amassed these lovely pieces and donated them to be displayed at the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Irish Silver Rattail Spoon

Every once in a while, eBay searches do turn up some interesting silver spoons.  This is one of them, an Irish rattail tablespoon dated 1723:

Irish rattail spoon, Dublin, 1723

Close-up of crest and hallmarks.  Maker's mark I?

The spoon is actually a bit ugly.  If you look at the first photograph, you can see that the spoon bowl is not symmetrical.  The right side of the bowl extends much further past the stem than the left, which is more obvious in the photograph depicting the reverse of the spoon.  The central rib on the front of the spoon is deeper than that on its English counterparts, as is usual on Irish spoons.  From what I have observed, Irish tablespoons of this period are nine times out of ten longer than English spoons.  This one measures 8 1/4 inches in length.  The weight is fine, being 69 grams, and the crest is interesting, appearing to be a dragon or a griffin out of a mural coronet.  I haven't been able to attribute the crest to a particular family.  The maker's mark could be "IT" in a heart for Joseph Teafe, although, in Collecting Irish Silver, Douglas Bennett says that Teafe "made a large quantity of spoons from 1725 to 1748" (154).  Mr. Bennett does not state when Joseph Teafe was made a freeman of the Goldsmith's Company, and since this spoon dates to 1723, it is possible that Teafe was making spoons prior to 1725.

The seller on eBay listed this spoon as dating to 1767.  While Irish tablespoons from this period aren't super-rare, there certainly aren't as many of them on the market as English spoons of the same date, so I was happy I decided to click on the listing and found that the spoon was much earlier.  I once bought a silver cream jug from eBay which was advertised as being Irish and free from any damage or repairs.  I couldn't quite make out the date letter or the maker's mark, which should have been a clue, but I decided I had to have it in hand to make up my mind.  The seller did advertise a return policy, so I bought it.  Upon receipt, it was very obvious that there had been a repair to the spout.  I was also not convinced that the hallmarks were quite right.  I contacted the seller right away, and he agreed to a full refund of the purchase price and the shipping costs I had initially paid based on the fact the piece was not as advertised.  There are pitfalls to buying on eBay, so caveat emptor, but there is some good stuff and some great sellers out there, too and so it should not be discounted or forgotten about as a source of items for one's collection.

Sources:
Bennett, Douglas. Collecting Irish Silver. London: Souvenir Press Ltd., 1984. Print.

Rattail Length on Early Hanoverian Spoons

Okay, ladies and gents, brace yourselves for a riveting posting on...rattail length.  This is not an in-depth study, but rather a comparison of the rattail lengths on the tablespoons in my collection.  The idea for this posting came about this morning as I was looking at a spoon I had just received in the mail (more about this new spoon later) and while looking at the back of the bowl, I began to think about rattail length, which prompted me to look at the rattails on my other spoons.  Following are photographs of the various rattails:

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

The spoon on the left in Figure 1 has the longest rattail, and I picture it again on the left in Figure 4 alongside spoons with the least amount of rattail remaining.  These spoons are all Britannia-standard (save the one on the right in Figure 4, which is an Irish example), and date from circa 1705 (the only dognose example) to 1718.  The Irish spoon dates to 1723.

At one point, did all my spoons have rattails as long as the super-long rattail, the termini ("terminuses" sounds odd to me, but I probably couldn't use "termini" in a conversation and keep a straight face, either) of which have worn away over time?  Having said that, the rattails of the spoons on the left and in the center of Figure 3 do appear to be complete, although not nearly as long as the super-long rattail.  From the photographs, one can see that the rattails are in various states of completeness, and in some cases, I can feel rather than see that the rattail continues. 

For someone who loves rattail spoons, I feel rather silly confessing that I don't quite know how the rattail part was made, meaning, was the rattail shaped and fashioned by hand, or was there some sort of casting process for the rattail?  If any of you can shed light on this, it would be much appreciated!

My First Trefid and a Ramble About Teaspoons

Three teaspoons came in the mail for me Friday, and here they are, fresh out of their packaging:

Left to right: Britannia standard rattail teaspoon, maker's mark HI (more about that below), London; rattail teaspoon, Jeremiah Lee, London; trefid teaspoon, John Clifton, London

Close ups of engravings and hallmarks

The trefid teaspoon is my first 17th century spoon, and I have to say, I like it.  The little teaspoon has a nice weight and feel to and the reeded rattail is a nice detail.  I also like the flat stem.  When seen next to the other teaspoons I have, it really does have a more primitive - but charming - look.  The spoon measures 10.5 cm in length and the maker appears to be John Clifton.   You can see a sweet set of engraved spoons and forks by John Clifton for sale by Peter Cameron here.  Fully-marked early teaspoons are very rare, and one by John Clifton was sold in 2010 by Woolley and Wallis. 

The two Hanoverian rattail teaspoons are fantastic.  I am a big fan of coats of arms on flatware, and didn't yet have a teaspoon so engraved, so was happy to see this one show up in the most recent Finial auction.  I believe the coat of arms belongs to the Dalton family (Burke, 522-523).  It is marked with the lion's head erased and a maker's mark of HI.  A quick search of Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks turns up three contenders for the maker: Edmund Hickman (169), William Hinton (161), and Samuel Hitchcock (164).  Without seeing the shape of the punch, it is too difficult to make a firm attribution.  This teaspoon measures 12.2 cm.

The teaspoon with the engraved cypher is also a Finial find.  This spoon is by Jeremiah Lee and measures 11.8 cm.  The teaspoon was dated to circa 1740, so I can only assume that, since the rattail had given way to the drop by this point, the teaspoon might have been made to match a set of existing older rattail teaspoons.  Baffling and frustrating, cyphers are nonetheless intriguing.  My best guess is that the letters on this teaspoon are "I/J V."  Of course, I could be completely wrong.

Here is a photograph of the teaspoons in my collection:

To state the obvious, the teaspoon on the left is clearly the longest, with the next three being roughly the same size, followed by the two smallest on the far right  The ratio of bowl length to overall spoon length of the second spoon from the left is the largest out the teaspoons.  Excluding the trefid teaspoon, the shape of the Hanoverian terminals on the spoons is the same, except for the spoon located third from the right, which has a more squared off terminal.  Dare I say that early teaspoons are like snow flakes: no two are alike?

Michael Clayton, in the "Queen Anne and George I" section of his Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver (102) notes, while discussing the appearance of the teaspoon, that "[i]n Scotland spoons were numbered so that the lady of the house could return the correct cup and saucer to its owner on refilling."  What a neat system.  Schredds sold a set of numbered dognose teaspoons, which are attributed to Joseph Barbut of London.  Were the owners of these teaspoons Scottish?  Or did the English also sometimes number their teaspoons?

Sources:
Burke, John Esq.. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry; or Commoners of Great Britain 
       and Ireland, etc. Vol I. London: Henry Colburn, 1837: 522-523. Google Books. Web. 3 Feb 2014.
Clayton, Michael. Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver.
       Oxford: Phaidon Christie's Limited, 1985. Print.
Pickford, Ian, ed. Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks of England, Scotland & Ireland. 3rd ed., 1989. Woodbridge: 
       The Antique Collectors' Club, Ltd., 2011. Print.

Earliest Example of Hanoverian Pattern: More Info

I found some back issues of The Finial that discuss early examples of the Hanoverian pattern, previously written about on this blog here.  In the November/December 2007 issue (3), Mr. Christopher Meade wrote in about a spoon which he dates to 1702/1703 with a Hanoverian terminal, and asks for readers' feedback.  Mr. David Whitbread (15), Mr. Walter Brown (16), and Mr. Mark Nevard (17) responded in the January/February 2008 issue.  Finally, in the March/April 2008 issue, Mr. Richard Jonas provided a photograph of a Hanoverian-pattern single-ended marrow scoop with the date letter for 1708 (13). 

Sources:

---. The Finial 18/03 (Jan/Feb 2008): 15-17. Web. 25 Jan. 2014.
---. The Finial 18/04 (Mar/Apr 2008): 13. Web. 25 Jan. 2014.

Irish Silver Freedom Box

Here is the second piece of silver to fall outside the time periods prescribed by this blog - an Irish silver freedom box made by James Kennedy in Dublin, circa 1776:

Irish silver freedom box, Dublin, James Kennedy, c. 1776

The box measures 3 1/8 inches in diameter and is 1 1/4 inches high with a weight of 4 oz 6 dwts.  The presentation inscription on the bottom of the box reads:

The Corporation of Weavers Unanimously present their Grateful Thanks to their Worthy Brother Gorges Lowther Esq.r in Approbation of his Uniform and truly Patriotic Conduct in Parliament: and his Laudable Endeavours to promote the Manufactures of Ireland.  Dublin, 1st April 1776.

Inscription on base of freedom box

The box is hallmarked to the underside of the lid, the inside of the base, and to the side of the box with the harp crowned, the maker's mark I K for James Kennedy, and Hibernia.  As was typical for much of the latter part of the 18th century, the box is lacking a date letter.

Hallmarks on freedom box

The side of the box is engraved with the names of the Master, George Fuller, and the Wardens, William Arnold and Henry Williams.  William Cotter Stubbs' article "Weavers' Guild" lists the names of the masters and wardens of the Weavers Guild, and shows that George Fuller was master in 1774 and 1775, with William Arnold and Henry Williams as wardens for the latter year (85).  Mr. Stubbs also mentions that the swearing in of new officers of the Guild took place on May 1 each year, so George Fuller's tenure as Master would have ended May 1, 1776, just shortly after the dedication date on the box (62).

Master and Wardens

According to Leigh Rayment's website, Gorges Lowther was an Irish Member of Parliament, sitting for Ratoath from 1739 until 1760, and for Meath from May 1761.  Gorges Lowther was born November 5, 1713 and died February 21, 1792.  MJP Grundy's study of the Lowther family makes a very intriguing Jane Austen connection: one of Gorges Lowther's great-granddaughters, Maud Lowther, married a Thomas Legh.  Mr. Legh owned Lyme Park in Shropshire, which served as the home of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 Colin Firth BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. But I digress.

James Kennedy appears to have been a prolific maker of Irish freedom boxes.  Several freedom boxes by him are in the John V. Rowan collection of Irish silver at the San Antonio Museum of art, including a gold one engraved with the arms of New Ross.  You can see another example of a freedom box presented by the Corporation of Weavers here.

In the afore-mentioned article, Mr. Stubbs states: "In the second half of the eighteenth century the honorary freedom of the Guild was conferred upon a number of distinguished persons, on account of their position in the State, their services in Parliament, or their support of the trade and manufactures of the country" (78).  According to the inscription on the box, Gorges Lowther was granted freedom of the Guild for the latter two reasons.  What Mr. Lowther's "Uniform and truly Patriotic Conduct in Parliament" was or what his "Laudable Endeavours" were and how they promoted "the Manufactures of Ireland" I suppose is lost to history.

Lid of freedom box

Sources:
Grundy, MJP. "Lowther." Paxson Family.
       freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com, 2007. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Rayment, Leigh. "Irish House of Commons 1692-1800." Leigh Rayment's 
       Peerage Page. Leigh Rayment, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Stubbs, William Carter. "Weavers' Guild." The Journal of the Royal Society
       of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series 9.1 (30 Jun. 1919): 60-88. JSTOR.
       Web. 24 Jan. 2014.

What is the Earliest Example of the Hanoverian Pattern?

I was recently re-reading parts of Michael Clayton's Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver.  The following sentence in the "Queen Anne and George I" section caught my attention: "The rat-tail rib on the back of the plain bowled spoon survived, but the dog-nose finial gave way to the rounded 'Hanoverian' by about 1705 and the fork handle conformed" (100).  From general reading and observation, I had thought this date to be a few years later than 1705.  Of course, that date is qualified with an "about."  The book itself pictures a Hanoverian terminal "gravy spoon" by Issac Davenport dated 1707 (130).  Since date letters changed in May each year, the spoon could date to as late as May 1708.

A web search returned an article titled "Early English Silver Spoons," which I believe was written by Theo Hecker.  The article is part two on this topic, and is an illustrated discussion of the stylistic evolution of the English silver spoon.  Mr. Hecker lists a Hanoverian pattern spoon dating to 1708 by Andrew Archer (1).

A perusal of the Early Spoons section of the Coritani website shows that the earliest Hanoverian terminal spoon listed is a tablespoon by George Cox of 1711.  There is also a dognose spoon on the site of the same date.  Christie's lists an Irish basting spoon by Joseph Walker which they date to 1706.  I believe this date letter was used up until 1708. Christie's further lists a set of eight Hanoverian tablespoons, maker's mark AR from 1708 (no image available).  There is an intriguing lot, again from the Christie's archives, of "three various Queen Anne silver spoons" dated 1702, 1704 and circa 1705.  The first two spoons are described as trefid-ended and the third, circa 1705, as Hanoverian pattern.  It is too bad there is not an image available of these spoons.  Christie's also lists a basting spoon of 1707, probably by David Willaume I ( no image available); a Queen Anne Hanoverian dessert fork by William Juson of 1706 (no image available); and a Queen Anne basting spoon in the Hanoverian pattern by Isaac Davenport of 1702 (this early date is very interesting - makes me question the accuracy of that date, but no image is available for study).  Silfren's archive lists another basting spoon by John Ladyman (a silversmith close to my heart) dated to 1708.  The Christie's archive lists several more Hanoverian pattern basting spoons and tablespoons dating to 1709.


The earliest spoon from my own collection is by Joseph Barbut dating to 1709/1710:

Front and back of tablespoon, Joseph Barbut, London, 1709

Close-up of hallmarks on Barbut spoon; ridge on front of stem

One feature that sets this spoon apart from the other Britannia-standard Hanoverian pattern spoons in my collection is the distinctive ridge that begins just at the base of the bowl.  This ridge flattens out somewhat as the handle widens.

There is obviously no hard date for the transition from dognose terminal to Hanoverian, and it is clear from looking through books and dealer and auction websites that there is considerable overlap between the two styles.  There seem to be more early Hanoverian pattern basting spoon examples out there than tablespoons, and I was only able to find one Hanoverian pattern spoon associated with the date 1705, and that was a "circa."  Michael Clayton did, however, make a conscious decision to use the date 1705, so I would assume it was because he had seen an example of a spoon with a Hanoverian terminal that actually dated to 1705.

Did households mix and mingle dognose pattern spoons and forks with the newer Hanoverian pattern?  Did they sell or have their dognose flatware melted down and fashioned into something else once the Hanoverian pattern had taken over?

Sources:
Clayton, Michael. Christie's Pictorial History of English and American Silver.
       Oxford: Phaidon Christie's Limited, 1985. Print.
Hecker, Theo. "English Silver Spoons, Part Two." Projekt Rosenberg IV.
       Piranho, n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.

Pair of Irish Silver Octofoil Salvers

Several years ago, I visited the Irish silver collection at the San Antonio Museum of Art.  The silver was donated to the museum by John V. Rowan, Jr., a native Texan born in San Antonio, and is a fantastic collection comprised of beautiful and unique pieces.  Some items that stood out to me were the strawberry dish by Henry Danell c. 1724, the covered cream jug by William Homer c. 1760, the covered sugar bowl by Joseph Walker of 1717/1718, and the octofoil salver by John Hamilton of 1718/1719.  In The Genius of Irish Silver: a Texas Private Collection, the salver is described as being engraved with the arms of Dawson, Castle Dawson, County Kerry with a scratch weight of 32:1 and a diameter of 11 7/8 inches (Davis 19, 33).  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any information on this family.

I recently purchased Christopher Hartop's book Geometry and the Silversmith: the Domcha Collection.  In it, he describes the geometry of the octofoil salver as "the intersection of four ellipses with common centre"  (15).  When looking at silver, I note that a caster base might be octagonal, a salver circular or square, trencher salts rectangular with canted corners, a candlestick base hexagonal.  However, I don't think I was ever really conscious of the geometry and math that goes into the craft of silversmithing. 

Not long after my visit to the museum, I came across a salver on Firestone and Parson's website that looked identical to the one in the museum.  The salver with Firestone and Parson is, however, unmarked, but bears the same armorial and is listed as being 12 inches in diameter.  One would have to assume that these salvers are indeed a pair, and were ordered and made as such.  The mystery is how and when these salvers became separated.  That is a story I would love to know.

Note: See further information on this salver from my blog posting on a later visit to the San Antonio Museum of Art:  Irish Silver in San Antonio, Texas

Sources:
Davis, John D. The Genius of Irish Silver: a Texas Private Collection.
       Williamsburg: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1991; San Antonio:
       The San Antonio Museum of Art, 1993. Print.
Hartop, Christopher. Geometry and the Silversmith: The Domcha Collection.
       Cambridge: John Adamson, 2008. Print.