Spoon

Date1671-1672

Artist/Maker Stephen Venables

MediumSilver (Sterling)

DimensionsL: 7 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1971-395

DescriptionspoonLabel TextThe Puritan spoon, first appearing during the reign of Charles I, enjoyed its main popularity during the Commonwealth period. It is the first English spoon type with a handle of rectangular section and a relatively broad handle face. Its bowl is usually of pronounced oval outline, though, when viewed in profile, the rim still exhibits the concave contours associated with bowls of modified fig or pear form of earlier types. It retains the short V-shaped extension of the handle onto the back of the bowl, a feature of early English spoons, which on trefid ones was replaced by a long, ridged rattail. On London examples, the leopard's head crowned continues to be struck on the face of the bowl and the date letter to be elevated above the other marks on the underside of the handle. In this instance, the marks on the handle are fairly evenly spaced with the date letter at an intermediate height, perhaps attributable to this spoon's late date.

This massive example, like a number of Puritan spoons, is in virtually pristine condition. This is probably due, in part, to the brief period of their popularity and their formal obsolescence after the introduction of the trefid about 1660. This late London example was out of date when it was made. Stephen Venables, however, continued to make Puritan and seal-top spoons well into the reign of Charles II.Inscription(s)Owner's initials "W H" engraved on underside of handle at end; removed from underside of bowl.Mark(s)Four marks on back of spoon: "WH", "G", a lion, and an indeciperable markProvenanceGarrard & Co., Ltd., London