spoon, 1732-1733
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1732-1733
This spoon is a typical example of a type popular across Europe in the first decade of the eighteenth century until about 1770. The style emerged in England in around 1710, and has become known as 'Hanoverian' because it was popular during the reigns of the first two Hanoverian monarchs (George I and George II), who ruled between 1714-1760. The ridge or ‘rat-tail’ at the heel of this example (where the stem joins the bowl) is characteristic of spoons made before around 1730.
The finial of the spoon has been designed so that the spoon can be placed on the table with its open bowl down (the opposite of how it would be set on the table today) and this is why the initials of the original owner are engraved on what we would now think of as the back of the spoon. This arrangement followed French fashions, which had developed at the end of the seventeenth century. silver, Hanoverian pattern with a rat tail, the bowl distorted
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Dimensions
- Length: 19.7 cm; Weight: 42.9 cm
- Materials and techniques
- silver, forged
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- London
Design
- Marks and inscriptions
- Punched on the back of the stem, L to R from the heel of the bowl: ? lion passant, for sterling silver standard; letter 'R', for the assay year 1732-1733; ? leopard's head crowned, for the London assay office; maker's mark ? 'EP' with a rampant beast above in a shaped punch, unrecorded.; Engraved on the finial, on the same side as the assay marks, the triad of initials 'R' over 'D E'.
Identification
- Candidate id
- vam-O296904
- Museum object number
- CIRC.1556-1923
- Source note
- Facts transcribed from the linked single-object source. Wider type attribution and authenticity have not been independently verified.
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type and source attribution against specialist references.