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 of the original owner were engraved on what we would now think of as the back of the spoon. The date letter to indicate when this spoon was tested (or 'assayed') to determine the standard of its silver has worn away. However, the spoon displays two features typical of English spoons of the 1680s, namely a parallel, flat stem which widens near the top to form the trefid finial, and the small pips in the notches of the finial itself. The scroll pattern at the top of the rat-tail is rare among spoons of this type which survive today.