This is an example of a type of spoon described as a 'trefid' pattern, so-called after the way the end of the stem is split into three sections. The design is completely different to that of earlier spoons made in England, and is almost certainly inspired by contemporary examples from the Continent, particularly France. Goldsmiths' Company court minutes from the 1660s refer to 'French fashion spoons', which probably looked similar to this one. This new fashion meant the finial of the spoon was designed so that the spoon could be placed on the table with its open bowl down (the opposite of how it would be placed on the table today). This is why the initials or crest of the original owners are engraved on what we would now think of as the back of the spoon. The stamped decoration on the finial and bowl is achieved by hammering the spoon into a die in which the decoration has been cut. Spoons of this form decorated in this way are known as 'lace back' trefids, and they are perhaps the commonest and best-known type of decorated trefid. This spoon was in the collection of the Marquess of Breadalbane (1851-1922), an important early collector of spoons who, unusually, distinguished pieces in his collection by literally stamping his name on them. He was also an enthusiastic patron of Scottish silversmiths of his own time.