Description:
Silver apostle spoon with a finial of St. James the Less carrying the emblem of a fuller's bat used in bleaching, and a pear-shaped bowl and tapered hexagonal stem, which has the touchmark of two crossed clubs in a heart (or two clubs in saltire) and a lion passant. According to Beth Wees: "Apostle spoons first appeared around the mid-1400s and continued to be made in quantity well into the seventeenth century. While conforming in basic design to other early English spoons, they are distinguished by their small cast finials fashioned as one of the twelve apostles or the Master. Individual apotles are differentiated by the emblem each carried in one hand, balanced by the Holy Book he holds in the other. In most cases the book is cast as one with the figure, while the emblem and nimbus are cast separately and attached with a solder. A single apostle spoon became a customary gift, ideally presented to an appropriately named child. Produced by specialist spoonmakers who also made such standard spoons as slip- and seal-top, apostle spoons were easily personalized by the choice of saint and by the addition of pricked or engraved initials and/or dates. The apostle finials were often supplied by another specialist, who cast the basic figures from a limited range of molds, and then individualized them by varyiing the applied emblems.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+75.162 |
