Physical description
Silver with a fig shaped bowl and slender six-sided stem terminating in a moulded capital which forms a pedestal for the figure of a wodewose (wildman).
Place of Origin
England, Great Britain (made)
Date
15th century (made)
Artist/maker
unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Silver
Marks and inscriptions
Leopard's Head
Dimensions
Height: 20.4 cm, Width: 5.1 cm, Depth: 2.3 cm, Weight: 0.06 kg
Object history note
Purchase - £400 along with M66 - 71
H D Ellis, 7 Roland Gardens, SW7
Acquisition RF: 21 / 1199
Possibly made at Coggleshall, Essex in 1468 (see Glanville ed,silver, p.23)
This spoon, which is the only one of its kind to survive, may have been owned by any member of society from artisan to noble. Spoons survive in larger numbers than any other object from before c.1700. Silversmiths made and sold silver spoons in every market town. Although silver was an expensive commodity, it was not as rare or as costly as gold. A wide variety of people could afford items of silver. A silver spoon weighing 1.5 to 2oz was a luxury costing an artisan around a week's wages. Nevertheless such items were the personal and treasured possessions of yeomen, workmen, widows and small shopkeepers. Wealthier members of society might own several silver spoons. In 1517 it is recorded that the Earl of Berkeley owned 20 dozen spoons.
Historical significance: Until c. 1300 round bowled spoons were the most common design. Later, until around 1700, spoons traditionally had a fig shaped bowl and a thin six sided stem. It was also common for the spoon to have a figurative decoration on the knop. From the late 15th century, Apostle spoons were particularly popular. They were sometimes made in sets of 13, depicting the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ. Other times they were given singularly as gifts. "Maidenhead" spoons portrayed the head and shoulders of the Virgin Mary. Knops were also figured into animals such as lions or (more rarely) birds including owls, falcons and doves.
This spoon has the typical bowl and stem of the pre 1700 period. However, the knop is particularly rare. Wrongly described by Ellis as the apostle St James the Less with a Fuller's bat, this spoon actually depicts a wildman holding a club. The wildman or "wodewose" was a popular figure in the medieval period. He was included in romance stories and love imagery, and also in religious and moral tales. He also appeared in a heraldic context, holding up shields with coats of arms. From the 14th century the wildman was particularly associated with desire and lust. The appearance of the wildman upon this spoon may have been a playful symbol of desire, or perhaps it served as a reminder of the wild nature within us all.
The leopard's head mark upon this spoon is the earliest English hallmark, established in 1300. In the medieval period, sterling silver was 92.5% pure. This mark shows that the spoon had been tested and verified as sterling silver. In the statute of 1363 it was called the King's Mark. In 1478 the mark was adapted to include a crown upon the head of the leopard and the date letter was introduced.
Historical context note
Spoons in the medieval period were intimate possessions that were often carried on the person. They were commonly presented as christening gifts but were also passed on in wills. In the Renaissance spoons of silver were offered as lottery prizes and required at election to corporations.
The fingers, the knife and the spoon were the principal aids for eating in this period, At a banquet, spoons might be used so that the guests could dip into a communal dish. Whilst spoons of wood or horn were commonly used in the Middle Ages, medieval inventory records show that silver spoons were also used to dine with. However, spoons may also have been given as personal gifts.
Descriptive line
Silver spoon, British, 15th century with wildman knop.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Jackson, C J., History of English Plate, fig 612 (incorrectly described)
Incorrectly described as an apostle spoon depicting St James the Less with a Fuller's bat.
Ellis, H D, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History, XIV, 1912
Husband, Timothy, The Wildman in Medieval Myth and Symbolism, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1980
Glanville, Philippa (ed), Silver, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1996
Campbell, M.L., 'Gold, Silver, Precious stones', in Blair, John and Ramsay, Nigel,ed., English medieval industries, London 1991, pp. 140-4
Materials
Silver
Categories
Metalwork; Eating
Collection code
MET
