Teaspoon, Nelson Walker, Montreal, 1831-1855

Though today, ‘cutlery’ refers to knives, forks and spoons in general, historically, it was only the knife-blade (of steel) that was made by a ‘cutler’. Knife handles, spoons and forks, together with servers and other implements of the table made by silversmiths, are known as ‘flatware’. Flatware production was often a family business.

Decoration of flatware was produced mainly by the die-stamping method, where silver ‘blanks’ are pressed between two steel dies or moulds previously carved with the imprint of the design. The dies were expensive to produce and intended for mass-production. This spoon is marked on the handle, 'NW', for Nelson Walker, 'MONTREAL' and imitations of the English duty and sterling marks. From the late 18th century, Canadian silversmiths frequently imitated English hallmarks. The sterling and duty marks have been only partly struck to accommodate imperfections in the copy. Fiddle pattern

Gift from L.A.Crichton, Old Bond Street registry says c. 1820, label says 1831-1855