Description:
Silver apostle spoon with a finial of St. Matthew carrying the emblem of a bag, and a pear-shaped bowl and tapered hexagonal stem, which has the touchmark "IF" with mullets above and below in a shield for John Feake of London who was free in 1616, and the hallmark of a lion passant and engraved "PH / P" on the back of the bowl. John Feake was a specialist spoonmaker, whose mark appears on many 17th century spoons including a number of apostle and three lion sejant spoons belonging to the London Museum. 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+75.168 |
