Slide #15
of 16

     The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 brought with it a new fashion in flatware in a French style that would have been familiar to the court in exile. Known as the Trefid, it still has a flat stem but the stem swells out at the top with notches that frame a central, up-turned tongue. The bowl acquires a rattail. The earliest known trefid to survive was from 1662. My earliest example, shown here, is a few years later, by John King, London, 1666, 7.4 inches.

     The leopard's head mark was now moved from the bowl to the stem to avoid damage to the rattail when it was struck. The date letter remained near the top of the stem, presumably out of habit by now. It would move down to the other marks again over the following years.

     While Apostle spoons and the like, as well as Puritans, continued to be made into the 1670s, the Trefid was the predominant pattern from the late 1660s on. This example therefore serves neatly as the last stop on this tour round the earlier part of my collection of English spoons. Or perhaps the last but one stop as a note on my references follows.