Sauce ladle, one of a pair

Date1753-1754

MediumSilver (Sterling)

DimensionsOL: 7 5/16"; D(bowl): 2 5/16"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1954-581,1

DescriptionSauce ladle: broad upturned handle of loop-shaped outline with raised double shell on face at end; thickened shank of D-shaped section flaring to bowl; hemispherical bowl scalloped-shaped rim, underside of overall alternating swirl ribs and flutes, and crested single drop at juncture with handle. Crest of a sunburst on a wreath bar engraved on underside of handle.
Label TextThese ladles are unusual in construction, in that their handles and bowls are cast elements. Usually ladles of this type are, for the most part, wrought, with the shaping of the bowl being visible on either side, as in accession 1954-569. A pair of salt spoons (accession 1971-148) from the 1770s has cast bowls of similar design with a scalloped rim and alternating swirled ribs and flutes on their undersides. During the middle decades of the eighteenth century, one encounters an increased use of casting in the more individual and plastic rococo elements of ladle handles, as can be seen in accessions 1954-569 and 1954-580.
InscribedCrest of a sunburst on a wreath bar engraved on underside of handle.
MarkingsMaker's mark "PR" in block letters within a rectangle, leopard's head crowned, lion passant, and date letter on underside of handle.
ProvenanceGarrard & Co. Ltd., London (purchased from C. J. Vander Ltd., London, 1954)