Mote spoon

Dateca. 1760

MediumSilver (Sterling)

DimensionsOL: 5 1/2"; OW: (bowl) 1"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1971-394

DescriptionMote spoonLabel TextA large number of eighteenth-century spoons of this distinctive form--with a pierced oval bowl and a slender stalk-like handle tapering gradually to a pointed terminal--survive. It is generally agreed that they were used in the service of tea, the bowl to skim tea leaves and other matter from tea bowls and cups and the pointed end to clear the obstruction by tea leaves of the strainer within the teapot at the entrance to the spout. The London Gazette in 1697 referred to "long or strainer tea-spoons with narrow pointed ends." Strainer spoons appear in conjunction with teaspoons in contemporary silversmiths' advertisements and accounts, and they are often included as part of the accessories in a fully outfitted tea chest.

From the reign of James I, spoons have also been used for removing impurities from the communion wine, although if made for that purpose they do not have pointed ends. Such spoons, which usually follow the design of contemporary domestic spoons, sometimes have pierced bowls. Occasionally a tea-strainer spoon is found with church plate. Strainer spoons, such as this example, are rarely fully marked, and they usually bear only the maker's and fineness marks. The underside of the bowl of this example has a raised swage design of a shell and scrolls, a type of decoration more often found on contemporary teaspoons (see accession 1954-563).
Inscription(s)NoneMark(s)Maker's mark and lion passant on underside of handle.ProvenanceVendor: Garrard & Co. Ltd., London.