spoon, 1720-1721
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1720-1721
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 engraving is 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. The two sets of initials and date may commemorate the presentation of the spoon as a gift, perhaps as a Christening present.
silver (sterling standard), Hanoverian pattern with a rat tail.
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: 18.5 cm; Weight: 32.2 g
- Materials and techniques
- Sterling standard silver, forged
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- Exeter
Design
- Marks and inscriptions
- On back of stem, L to R from bowl: Maker's mark 'IM' in a rectangular punch, for John Murch I; leopard's head crowned, the official mark of sterling silver; lion passant, for sterling standard silver; a castle, the town mark of Exeter; the letter 'V', date-letter for Exeter assay office year 1720-21.; Engraved on the finial, on the spoon back (ie. on the same side as the marks), two sets of initials and a date: 'A * E' / 'I * F' / 1758'
Identification
- Candidate id
- vam-O296906
- Museum object number
- M.10-1916
- 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.