Spoon
Date1560-1600
OriginEngland
MediumPewter
DimensionsOL: 6 3/8"; W (bowl): 1 7/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1988-497
DescriptionspoonLabel TextEnglish spoons prior to the third quarter of the seventeenth century are characterized, for the most part, by their narrow, stalk-like handles of hexagonal cross-section on a bowl of fig-shaped or related outline. Handles often end in finials of decorative or figural form. Baluster knop finials differ from seal top finials by the presence of a small peak-shaped projection in the center of its end.
Early English pewter spoons of this general type are most often marked on the face of the bowl, just below its juncture with the handle.
This spoon is in remarkable condition, for it survived most of its life in the protective silt of the River Thames. Marks from scraping in the finishing are still clearly evident on the stem.
InscribedNone
MarkingsTouch mark "II" with a rayed sun between within a beaded circle on face of bowl below juncture with handle (Cotterell 5717; Hilton Price 40; Homer 56).
ProvenanceFound in the River Thames.
Vendor: Lindsay C. Grigsby, Richmond, Virginia, who acquired it from Gary Atkins, London.
