Sauce ladle, London, ca.1745

Sauce ladle in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number M.11-1973), made in London, dated ca.1745, attributed to Paul Crespin. The museum's brief description reads: Sauce ladle, silver, London, ca.1745, mark of Paul Crespin.. Museum description: Sauce ladle, silver, oval bowl with a double drop at the back. The stem, most of which is plain and of rectangular section, terminates with a forward curling volute from the front of which falls a stylized scallop shell and an asymetrical leaf cast and chased in relief. The back of the stem carries an oval cartouche from which are suspended three husks, all enclosed by an asymetrical leaf surmounted by two volutes and a shell. These are cast and chased in relief, and like the front ornament, have been separately made and applied to the stem. The cartouche is engraved with an unidentifiable crest. The museum records it as Silver, cast and chased., measuring Length 26 cm; Width 7.0 cm. These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.