Extremely rare 1680s R*H English Georgian sterling silver trifid/trefid spoon
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Extremely rare 1680s R*H English Georgian sterling silver trifid/trefid spoon:
$259.99
We are listing this extremely rare little 1680s Georgian sterling silver flame-decorated trifid (sometimes called trefid) handled reeded rat tail spoon by an unknown London silversmith who used the mark R*H. The spoon is the smaller size used for coffee, tea, chocolate, and condiments, and it has the very rarely seen trifid handle end which was developed in France in the mid 1600s and was only used in England from the 1660s up until around 1700, when it was replaced by the short lived wavy or dognose ended spoon until the arrival of the more modern looking Hanoverian style around 1715 (see page 12 of ENGLISH SILVER SPOONS, which has pictures of several examples of these rare old spoons). The listed spoon also has the early reeded rat tail on the back of its bowl which was basically used during the same period as the trifid handle end, and is incised on the back of its bowl with the extremely rarely seen flame-type decoration, and with incised trailing vines going up both sides of its handle. Flame-decorated spoons are quite rare (as discussed on page 32 of the Spoon book), but you can see a picture of a very similar looking 1685 spoon on that page (also in this small size) which is monogrammed and was made by a different London silversmith. The listed spoon is impressed on the back of its handle with an R*H maker\'s mark. This mark was never registered, but it was recorded on a 1687 dated tumbler, and attributed to an unknown London silversmith (see page 143 of JACKSON\'S SILVER & GOLD MARKS). The spoon is less than 4 inches long, weighs .3 ounces, it has a very early reeded rat tail bowl and trifid ended handle, the extremely rare flame-type decoration, a very rarely seen early maker\'s mark, and it is in very good overall condition. However, there are some ripples in the handle (see the next to last picture), and a very worn front edge on the bowl (see the last picture), both common problems of 300+year old functional silverware. Please view the closeup pictures and judge for yourself (the spoon has not been professionally polished). An extremely rarely seen 1680s flame-decorated and maker marked English Georgian trifid handled reeded rat tail sterling silver spoon. In my experience, these smaller trifid spoons are even more uncommonly seen than the larger trifid serving spoons, which are very rare themselves, and of course the flame-type decoration and a maker\'s mark are definite bonuses as well.
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Extremely rare 1680s R*H English Georgian sterling silver trifid/trefid spoon:
$259.99