Description:
One of six silver teaspoons (HD 61.062.1-.6) with a pointed oval bowl with an incised triangular drop on the back and downturned pointed-end handle, which is marked "MOULTON" incuse in roman letters for Ebenezer Moulton (1768-1824), and engraved "EB" in shaded roman letters on the front of the handle. Ebenezer came from a family of silversmiths, starting with his grandfather, William (1720-c.1793), and granduncle, Joseph (1724-1795), his father, Joseph (1744-1816), and continuing with his three brothers, William (1772-1861), Enoch (1780-1820), and Abel (1784-1840), and his nephew, Joseph (1814-1903). With so many makers of the same name and the frequent omission of the first initial on the mark, there has been much confusion in the identification of the stamps. After training in his father's shop in Newburyport, Mass., Ebenezer worked for much of his career in Boston starting about 1790 before returning to Newburyport about 1820, where he worked until his death in 1824. In Boston, he advertised "an extensive assortment of English made Silver Plate...., Jeweler's Tools, Flattened Mills"; in Newburyport, his shop had six counter cases and eight other cases for the display of goods, which included 1,027 onces of wrought silver. 18th century silversmith shop records, such as those of Paul Revere and the Richardsons of Philadelphia, suggest that spoons were generally purchased by the half-dozen or dozen. It was only in the 19th century that large services of flatware, with matching patterns of forks and spoons for various uses, were ordered en suite. The E.H. Williams 1838 inventory lists: "12 Silver Tea Spoons ... 10.00."
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