Trifid spoon

Date1676-1690

MediumPewter

DimensionsOL: 7 5/16"; W (bowl): 1 13/16"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1988-403

Descriptiontrifid spoon
Label TextThe trifid spoon, with its broad handle face terminating in a tripartite division and its oval bowl with level edges and a long rat-tail on its underside, inaugurates the modern phase of spoon design. It arrived in England in developed form from France about 1660. Skilled artisans cut the moulds for spoons enriched with handsome relief-cast decoration with ornamental baroque designs or portraits of reigning sovereigns.
InscribedNone
MarkingsTouch mark "IN" with a fleur-de-lis with "7" to the left and "6" to the right below within a shield with a beaded border on face of bowl below handle (London Touch Plate I, 311; Cotterell 5814). Pseudo hallmarks (1) "IN" with three pellets above within a shaped shield, (2) fleur-de-lis within an outlined lozenge, (3) lion passant with a pellet to the left within a shaped shield (partially indistinct), and (4) buckle within an outlined lozenge, all on underside of handle (nos. 2 and 4, Peal MPM 5814).

ProvenanceEx Coll: Ronald F. Michaelis, Denton, Newhaven, Sussex
Ex Coll: J.R. Franklin, Rowly, Cranleigh, Surrey.
Vendor: Robin Bellamy, Witney, Oxfordshire.