spoon
Spoon
1761-1762 (made)
1761-1762 (made)
Place of origin |
The styles of spoons vary tremendously, especially in the shape of the stem, the decoration of the bowl and the form of the terminal. The records of the London goldsmiths' Garrard for 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 they can be laid on the table with the bowl or tines uppermost (as we would set them on the table today). Turned back finials are unlike the French patterns which English goldsmiths imitated during the second half of the eighteenth century, and consequently this distinctive style has come to be known as 'Old English'. This example was made in the early 1760s, when the style first became popular.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | spoon (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Silver, forged and engraved |
Brief description | silver, English, London, 1761-62; maker's mark indecipherable |
Physical description | silver, old English pattern with a single drop at the bowl. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions |
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Credit line | Gift of J.H. Fitzhenry |
Summary | The styles of spoons vary tremendously, especially in the shape of the stem, the decoration of the bowl and the form of the terminal. The records of the London goldsmiths' Garrard for 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 they can be laid on the table with the bowl or tines uppermost (as we would set them on the table today). Turned back finials are unlike the French patterns which English goldsmiths imitated during the second half of the eighteenth century, and consequently this distinctive style has come to be known as 'Old English'. This example was made in the early 1760s, when the style first became popular. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | 163-1903 |
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Record created | June 24, 2009 |
Record URL |
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