'Seal top' spoons are so-called because their finial resembled a seal. Although they were not designed to be used as such, the flat top of the finial is often engraved or pricked (as here) with the initials of their owners. This style of spoon was in demand throughout most of the seventeenth century, and numerous examples from different parts of the country survive today. This example was originally believed to have been made by a Leicester spoon maker, but recent scholarship has revised this attribution and it is more likely that the spoon was made by a goldsmith in the South West of England.