Description:
Silver teaspoon with an upturned spatulate-end handle with a midrib and elliptical bowl with a triangular drop and shell, which is marked "N.B" in a rectangle for N. Bartlet, and engraved with the initials "I + S / to / H + C" in block letters on the back of the handle. According to Patricia Kane: "The identity of N. Bartlet remains a mystery. Ensko was the first scholar to publish N. Bartlet's location as Concord, Massachusetts, and since 1927, the standard literature has repeated that informatuion. Upon no apparent basis, Nathaniel has been identified as the name represented by the initial "N." Spoons marked "N.BARTLET" and "NB" have seven-lobed shells reminiscent of those found on Massachusetts examples, which suggests that their maker worked in the colony. A few of the spoons have intricate floral drops. However, no evidence has been found to confirm that a silversmith named N. Bartlet worked in Concord. A search through Massachusetts vital records suggests that N. Bartlet was more likely to have worked in Essex or Plymouth counties because that name turns up in those locations frequently. Thus far, however, no concrete proof has been found to document the presence of a silversmith named N. Bartlet in either county."
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+61.501 |
