Teaspoon thumbnail 1
Not on display

Teaspoon

ca. 1750 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The scarcity of English gold plate other than snuffboxes and freedom boxes was well documented by the scholar Arthur Grimwade in 1951, when he listed only about eighty objects dating from 1507-1830. However, this spoon and its set was not included, which suggests that more surviving examples may come to light. The spoons each have a shell-shaped bowl, decorated on the outside and plain on the inside.

The 18th century saw an emerging class of rich citizens who used their acquired wealth to indulge a passion for beautiful objects. The Renaissance tradition of the treasury or Schatzkammer, a special room for displaying exotic artefacts, continued in the 18th and 19th centuries. Other types of display included presentation plate, often of solid gold, which in the 18th century was worth about twenty times the value of silver.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Raised and chased gold
Brief description
Gold, London, ca.1750, (no hallmarks), mark of Francis Harache?
Physical description
Shell-shaped bowl, chased on the outside and plain on the inside, with leaf moulding chased on the lower front junction, the upper end of the stem is chased on both sides with foliage, scrolls and shell motifs.
Dimensions
  • Length: 10.7cm
  • Width: 2.1cm
  • Depth: 1cm
  • Weight: 200g
Updated with measurements taken 18/08/08 total weight of 43.1-.7
Marks and inscriptions
  • No hallmarks

  • Mark of Francis Harache

    Note
    Probably

Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: Sir John Noble, Bart., Ardkinglass. Sale, Sotheby's, lot 48, February 6, 1986.
Production
Maker's mark FH, a crown above (unrecorded by Grimwade), probably Francis Harache
Summary
The scarcity of English gold plate other than snuffboxes and freedom boxes was well documented by the scholar Arthur Grimwade in 1951, when he listed only about eighty objects dating from 1507-1830. However, this spoon and its set was not included, which suggests that more surviving examples may come to light. The spoons each have a shell-shaped bowl, decorated on the outside and plain on the inside.

The 18th century saw an emerging class of rich citizens who used their acquired wealth to indulge a passion for beautiful objects. The Renaissance tradition of the treasury or Schatzkammer, a special room for displaying exotic artefacts, continued in the 18th and 19th centuries. Other types of display included presentation plate, often of solid gold, which in the 18th century was worth about twenty times the value of silver.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Schroder, Timothy. The Gilbert collection of gold and silver. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1988, cat. no. 77, pp. 295-97. ISBN.0875871445
Other numbers
  • SG 207A-G - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.947 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.43:1-2008

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Record createdJune 19, 2008
Record URL
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