The records of the very successful London goldsmiths' firm of Garrard for the year 1760 include customer orders for spoons and forks which are described as 'turn'd back'. This is almost certainly a reference to pieces like this, in which the finial turns back or down so that the spoon or fork can be laid on the table with the bowl or tines uppermost (as we would set them on the table today). The fashion for turned back finials probably originated in England, as the style represents a break with the French patterns which English goldsmiths imitated during the second half of the eighteenth century. Consequently this style has come to be known as 'Old English'. The engraved decoration on the edge of the spoon and on the finial is referred to as 'bright-cut', because facets, rather than lines, are cut into the surface of the silver in order to produce a sparkling effect. The technique emerges in goldsmithing around 1770, and reflects improvements in the cutting edges of tools as a result of improvements in the quality of steel production. The bright-cut decoration round the edge of the spoon is referred to now as 'feather edge', but in eighteenth century account books this feature is described as 'laurelling'.