Description:
Silver basting or serving spoon with an upturned, rounded end handle with a midrib and elliptical bowl with a molded drop, which is marked "TH" in roman letters in a rectangle three times for Thomas Hammersley (1727-1781) who worked in NYC from 1756-1769, and engraved with the initials "L / B*F" on the back of the handle. The teapot (HD 54.468), two canns (HD 54.469.1/2), four salts and spoons (HD 54.470.1.-.8), spoons (HD 54.471.1-.3), serving spoon (HD 54.472), and tankard (HD 3041) seem to be from the same family based on the arms, crests, or initials. There was a sudden diversity of spoons produced during the English post-Restoration period, which included basting spoons that doubled as soup and punch ladles with their deep and eliptical bowls. In addition, in 2003, the Victoria and Albert Museum exhibited a similar spoon identified as a cook's spoon and dating to 1701-1702, which the label noted: "Cooks in grand houses were issued with their own silver spoon." This spoon was one of 92 pieces in the Watson-Crichton Collection (Watson #27), acquired by the Flynts in 1954 from Victor A. Watson (1897-1974), son-in-law and partner of Lionel Alfred Crichton (1866-1938), a retail silversmith and dealer in antique plate with shops in London, New York City and Chicago. Crichton, who was considered one of Britain's most prominent silver dealers of the early 20th century, started collecting American colonial silver for his own personal interest after WWI; the Watsons refused to sell the collection until meeting the Flynts. American silver found in England with English family heirlooms has been called "loyalist silver," since many pieces came to England with returning loyalists; however, this broadly-used term does not allow for pieces sent as gifts and taken over later. Wgt. 0 ozs., 3 dwts., 18 grs.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+54.473 |
