DESCRIPTION |
Exceptionally good William III silver trefid spoon with a long, ribbed rat-tail and contemporary initials. The original skin, sometimes called patina, is complete except for where the initials have been engraved and a small area around the bowl tip. This is exactly what you would expect from a lightly used spoon in completely original condition. The engraver of the contemporary initials would have polished off the rough edges after engraving and this accounts for a lighter patch in this area. Very, very slight wear to the bowl tip has worn away the skin in this small area. The rectangular section stem is thick and still bears the original maker's file marks along the sides towards the bowl. Some wear to the Britannia mark and the maker's is apparent but expected as this is exactly where the index finger sits when using the spoon. Luckily all marks are still clearly legible. Quite extraordinary to find a spoon over three hundred years old in totally original condition. |
SILVERSMITH |
Isaac Davenport |
DATE or HALLMARK |
1698 |
ASSAY OFFICE or COUNTRY |
London |
WEIGHT in GRAMS |
62 |
SIZE in INCHES |
length: 8 |
SILVER STANDARD |
.9584 Britannia silver |
OVERALL CONDITION |
excellent, no repairs or erasures. There are a couple of soft bowl bumps but, in my opinion, it should be a criminal offence to meddle with a spoon such as this and so I can not recommend their removal no matter how easy and cheap it would be. |
BACK | Price £425 | SOLD | Item Number: M2530 |