posted 04-01-2000 11:37 AM            

Here are some pictures of one of my favorite pieces, courtesy of our esteemed site host. This spoon by Daniel Dupuy, Sr. of Philadelphia, appears to have been made as a child's toy. It looks very much like an adult tablespoon of the period (late 1750's to 1770's), but as you can see it is very small, and at 3 1/4 inches long it is smaller in fact than any teaspoon of the period. Fiddle pattern toy spoons are illustrated in Martha Gandy Fales' "Early American Silver for the Cautious Collector", but I have never seen another of this age and style. There is a possibility that this is a snuff or salt spoon. However, snuff spoons often have even smaller bowls, and salt spoons tend to be shell shaped. At any rate, spoons of this size are a rarity in American silver, even in the fiddle pattern. I would love to see any other toy spoons that our readers may have.

Speaking of small treasures, check out the Silver Stories forum to see picture of our new son modelling the spoon for me.

posted 04-06-2000 05:56 PM            

As to the history of this spoon, the dealer did not supply any. On the other hand, this little spoon does have some later scratch engraving. On the back of the bowl is scratched what appears to be the name Colen Rodney Hamman, or something similar, and the date 1849. 1849 is also scratched on the front of the handle. I am not absolutely certain of the name, except for the Rodney. The last name may be Harmon, Harman or something else; it is not clear.

The engraved initials on the piece, CRH, are almost certainly original. Other known Dupuy spoons have this same crude block engraving. The scratched name is also a CRH, but I'm sure that was added in 1849. Perhaps the spoon was handed down to a descendant of the original owner (with the same initials) in 1849. On the other hand, perhaps the original owner died in 1849, and the inscription was made as a memorial. It makes for fascinating suppositions! What do you think is the real story?

If I see the dealer again, I will ask if remembers where this came from.

posted 06-05-2000 03:36 PM            

1.) There are tiny 19th century spoons that are definitely made for children. I think that there would be some precedent for these pieces.

2.) The spoons are very small, but they would still hold an awful lot of snuff! Maybe if you were Jimmy Durante... Anyway, actual snuff spoons that you find in etuis and on chatelaines have very tiny bowls, like a McDonalds swizzle stick.

3.) I have seen these English spoons in sets. Why would anyone need an engraved set of snuff spoons?

posted 09-30-2002 04:06 PM            

That leaves these rather troubling size of 3-4". If normally proportioned and 18th century I would say they are just small spoons. Tea was very expensive until 1788 and cups were very small. Also with the huge infant mortality rate, I can't see a parent even a doting one having silver engraved with a child's initials. People just didn't expect all children to live and their deaths were treated differently. At this period children had dolls and their dolls had "toy" spoons not 3 1/4" spoons. Think if you can remember seeing an 18th century child's china set bigger than a toy set? In France the first silver a child received was probably the fork spoon and cup he received when leaving for school.

After the turn of the century things changed, child's sets were more common. Children were expected to live. And the Victorian cult of the child was around the corner. I don't doubt that short handled spoons with nearly normal sized bowls were probably child's spoons especially if after 1800.

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Maurice

posted 03-02-2014 11:39 AM            

(There are a few threads on the board about these mini spoons; I chose this one to add to rather than start a new one.)

My little cutie has an oval bowl with a drop and a plain, rounded end, neither turned up nor turned down. No ridge. Traces of gilding on the whole spoon (not just the bowl). Looks c. 1780-1810 to me (anyone disagree?).

No marks anywhere (so I don't know for sure that it's American).