…The Finial… ISSN 1742-156X Volume 18/06 Where Sold £8.50 July/August 2008 ‘The Silver Spoon Club’ OF GREAT BRITAIN ___________________________________________________________________________ 26 Burlington Arcade, Mayfair, London. W1J 0PU V.A.T. No. 658 1470 21 Tel: 020 7491 1720 Fax: 020 7491 1730 www.bexfield.co.uk/thefinial E-mail: [email protected] Hon. President: Anthony Dove F.S.A. Editor: Daniel Bexfield. Volume 18/06 Sub-editor: Aelred Tobin July/August 2008 Photography: Aelred Tobin & Matthew Raymond CONTENTS Introduction 3 Mark Identification? – Bruce Jones requests help 3 Sugar & spice and all things nice – Hoof End spoons by David Orfeur 4 Review – ‘Georgian Silver Sugar Tongs’ review by Anthony Dove 6 The sinister side to Lot 113 by Michael Bodden 8 Special offer - The Antiques Trade Gazette 9 Spoons on the underground 9 An unascribed thistle mark by Laurence Joyce 10 Dates for your diary by Mr M 12 Complimentary entry to Penman Antique Fairs 12 The marking of early sugar tongs by Michael Baggott 13 An apology and correction by Daniel Bexfield 14 Feedback 16 Review – Bonhams Sale – 2nd July 2008 by Timothy Kent 18 Results for the Club Postal Auction – 1st May 2008 21 The Club Postal Auction 23 The next postal auction – 9th October 2008 51 Postal auction information 51 -o-o-o-o-o-o- COVER A Henry VIII Silver St. Matthias Apostle Spoon Made in London 1515 by William Simpson See: Review – Bonhams ‘The Quernmore Collection Part II’ Sale by T. Kent, page 18 -o-o-o-o-o-o- Yearly subscription to The Finial UK - £39.00; Europe - £43.00; N. America - £47.00; Australia - £49.00 In PDF format by email - £30.00 -o-o-o-o-o-o- The Finial is the illustrated journal of The Silver Spoon Club of Great Britain Published by Daniel Bexfield Antiques 26 Burlington Arcade, Mayfair, London, W1J 0PU. Tel: 020 7491 1720 Fax: 020 7491 1730 Email: [email protected] All views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Finial. .2. Introduction There has been an encouraging amount of interest in the digital edition of the Finial (now available as a PDF via email for £30 per annum) and we look forward to feedback for publication in the next issue, to let fellow members know the pros and cons of the electronic copy. This issue of the Finial is a little later than planned, so the Postal auction has been re-scheduled to take place on 14th August 2008; a week later than originally advertised. I’ve been pleased to notice the Finial being quoted in auction catalogues etc., even though the references are to issues published long before my involvement, but it does go to show that The Finial articles are read by many and taken seriously as a source of reference, so do please keep up the excellent work. However, I also know through many conversations that the lighter and somewhat less academic articles are thoroughly enjoyed too. And, if one thinks about it, this is how most writers find their feet and go on to develop a finely tuned area of interest to research and write about. These citations make us think about the validity attached to the printed word, so if any mistakes are found in The Finial, I would like to remind you that we do like to know, albeit tenderly, in order that we can correct it. Finally, Anthony Dove, our Honorary President of The Silver Spoon Club of Great Britain, celebrated his 70th birthday recently. For those of you who don’t know Tony, he is unfailingly generous with his help and knowledge and my main source of information and advice when I first started collecting. I hope you will all join me in wishing Tony a belated Happy Birthday. Wishing you all a good summer, Daniel. -o-o-o-o-o-o- Bruce Jones asks for help about an unusual mark: I am a recent member of The Spoon Club and have about half a dozen late eighteenth/early nineteenth century spoons that I find interesting and attractive. However I must confess that my primary collecting interest is wine labels. Like spoons, they come with numerous variations and, in some cases with unusual and sometimes obscure marks. It is one such mark that I now lay before members of the Club for comment. This mark appears on a label of Irish design of circa 1790-1800 and has also been seen on initial wine labels, again with an Irish look but of a design seen around 1830. The mark is ‘CS’ over ‘18’ (it appears to be ‘18’ rather than ‘IB’) struck here several times, rather crudely. It has been suggested that it might be that of an Irish smith misusing an unregistered mark intended for gold articles, or an Irish smith working overseas. An alternative suggestion is that it is a mark from Malta, where numbers appear in conjunction with maker’s marks to differentiate those with the same initials, but the highest such number I have seen is ‘9’. Comments and thoughts will be much appreciated. -o-o-o-o-o-o- .3. ‘Sugar & Spice and all Things Nice’ Late Tudor & Early Stuart Hoof End Spoons By David Orfeur Hoof End spoon, London 1615, by William Lympanny On rare occasions, one might see appearing at auction, a small oddly shaped spoon, reminiscent in appearance of much earlier times, consisting of a curved heart shaped bowl with an applied arched handle in the form of a horse’s forearm, shin, and non cloven hoof, the tip of the bowl being slightly thickened. The very few examples that I have seen over the years were made by established London specialist spoon makers, although I recall one provincial one bearing the maker’s mark ‘HL’ conjoined. Please go to our Order Form to purchase a complete copy of this Finial In his Notes of Summer 1943, Commander How illustrates such a hoof end spoon2 which he noticed included in a catalogue for a country sale, described as a Georgian caddy spoon. However, clearly, he was not the only bidder present who recognized the importance of the lot, and despite commencing the bidding at five shillings, he finally secured the piece for £100, a considerable sum 65 years ago. I am sure that many of us know how he must have felt, a not unfamiliar experience! .4. As regards the perceived contemporary use of these now very rare items, this is somewhat uncertain. The most likely possibility, in my view, is that they were spice spoons. Certainly, such a spoon was sold at Christie’s in October 1969, together with an escallop shaped spice box3 with sea shell shaped feet dated 1627, both the spoon and the box bearing early initials ‘HB’ over ‘IK’, the box displaying the maker’s mark ‘IP’ over a bell, recorded by Jackson for 1617/1619, and the spoon having the maker’s mark only, probably that of Robert Jygges. In his History of English Plate, Sir Charles Jackson illustrates such a spice box of 1599, and records an inventory of 1594 of plate belonging to Sir William Fairfax, which included a spice box and spoon, with no further details being given. Another possible use for the spoons is that for sugar, but it appears to me that due to their frailty of design and construction, this is unlikely. However, I have to admit that most of the examples that I have seen have shown splitting across the tops of the bowls, which would be the point of stress when endeavouring to break up hard sugar lumps reduced from the loaves4. With the recorded and evidential association of these unique spoons with the escallop shaped spice boxes, and the fact that the spoons do fit exactly into one of the two internal divisions of such receptacles, conveying spice does seem to be the most likely use. Notes 1. Now in Huntington Collection. See item 310 of Catalogue by R.R. Wark of 1978. Sold Christie’s 29th October 1969, Lot 165. 2. See Chapter 2, Section 12, Plate 2, Volume 1, of English and Scottish Silver Spoons by Commander and Mrs How, 1952, by then in Sanders Collection. Also, see earlier example of 1567, Plate 1 of same Volume, with cloven hoof and hairy shin. 3. Such a piece of 1615, maker's mark ‘TI’ star below, in Huntington Collection. See Item 248 of Catalogue. 4. The earliest known mention of cane sugar was in 325 BC in Western India. In England, prior to 1300, sugar was an extremely rare commodity and a great luxury, but during the 14th century, sugar, originally from Egypt was supplied to Europe, including England, by the great merchant houses of Italy, particularly Genoa. -o-o-o-o-o-o- .5. ‘Georgian Silver Sugar Tongs’ by Graham Hodges A review with relevant additional information on hallmarking By Anthony Dove F.S.A. It is always a pleasure to be able to congratulate an author on achieving a ‘first’. This book contains, for the first time, a complete set of photographs of London sugar tong hallmarks from 1791 to 1820. When the 1790 Hallmarking Act was passed, one of the results was that sugar tongs (and mourning rings) had marks struck together in a combination punch, or stub. This consisted of the duty head, lion passant and date letter. The first assay year (1790/1) was an experimental one regarding specific marks and the stub was only finalised for both tongs and rings in 1791/2.