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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 Tip Wear Compensation?
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| Author | Topic: Tip Wear Compensation? |
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nihontochicken Posts: 289 |
posted 06-14-2004 05:20 PM
  
Okay, now that we've vanquished the copyright pirates  , here's another off-the-wall question. We're all familiar with the typical tip wear on well-used silver spoons, most generally on what I'll call the "left" side of the bowl tip as caused by the majority right-handed users. Somehow, I think I may have read anecdotally of some makers building up the left-hand bowl tip in anticipation of this asymmetrical wear, but I can't recall having actually seen an example, either in person or print, despite having viewed many, many spoons in both. All the new or nearly-new spoons I've seen have had symmetrical tips. Well, lo and behold, here comes my way a rather minty "R. EVANS" hallmarked American Old English Pattern serving spoon, c.1798 per Ensko, with original planishing marks apparent over a majority of its surface, and little apparent tip wear. Here's a pic of the bowl tip: (Note, the build up of the tip left side is MUCH more discernible in person than the above photo shows; a slight bit of wear lessens the effect in this scanner pic.) Sooooo, was this a maker's error, or did indeed some smiths build up the left-hand bowl tip to compensate for anticipated wear? If the latter, how prevalent was this practice? If fairly widespread, why haven't I seen an example of this in the many flatware texts I've read? Too obscure a consideration? TIA! IP: Logged |
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adelapt Posts: 418 |
posted 06-14-2004 06:27 PM
For my money, I think the variation in thickness you've noted on this spoon bowl is just part of the normal range of variation one finds in hand-made or hand-finished flatware. To me it would be unlikely for a maker to compensate for what would be expected wear patterns in the way you suggest. I'll certainly look more closely in future though! IP: Logged |
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FredZ Posts: 1070 |
posted 06-15-2004 04:02 PM
The spoonmaker does forge the spoon blank with thicker metal at the tip because this is a point of wear. He does not compensate for the left or right handedness of the user. Geoff Blake could probably tell us more about this. Fred IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 06-16-2004 10:39 AM
The tips of coin silver spoons can be a variety of shapes, not all due to wear. I think a lot of it had to do with the spoon die the smith used. I have seen many spoons with flat edges like yours, and I think they are an artifact of construction. There was one Cincinnati maker, Wilson McGrew, who had a very unusual spoon die that left a concave section under the tip of the bowl. The tips of his tablespoons stick out like a nose. Anyway, I don't think that thick tips on spoons were made on purpose, but I stand to be corrected. Brent IP: Logged |
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akgdc Posts: 289 |
posted 08-04-2004 12:07 AM
Of course, French spoons typically have a wide, shelf like bowl rim, sometimes coming to a point at the tip. This is most often seen today on 19th-century flatware, though it's even true of earlier spoons when they have had little wear. For instance, this 1788 Paris platter spoon: Is it any coincidence that pre-1973 French silver is purer than sterling and coin - .950 or higher - and thus wears more quickly? (That's the price you pay for that velvety blue patina.) As a footnote: one always reads that the reason there's so little 18th-c French silver left (compared to English) is that it was melted in the Revolution. I'm convinced that the softness of the alloy had at least as much to do with it. The pieces are just more damage-prone. IP: Logged |
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akgdc Posts: 289 |
posted 08-04-2004 12:08 AM
Another footnote: on eBay recently a seller offered a set of New Orleans dessert spoons by Hyde and Goodrich, who (as has been noted elsewhere in these forums) often made flatware in the French mode. These spoons, too, had wide, flat bowl tips: It would be interesting to know the metal content of these spoons, too. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 08-04-2004 02:41 PM
The following was posted in an earlier thread, and may be of interest here: --------------------------------------------- No words serve as well as a picture or two: The first shows a French Fiddle (Freedom Fiddle?) and two American ones - the extended pointed tip is present, but not as well developed - there is wear on each. All American 19th Century spoons originally had pointed tips, before the bowl butchers got through with them - misuse (pot stirring and scraping), buffing wheels, and reshaping to hide wear, have eliminated the tips and flat tops from the bowl edges of most spoons we see. Below is a selection of styles with remaining tips to substantiate this statement (all show varying degrees of wear): Eighteenth Century styles - trefid, dognose, and hanoverian - had more oblong bowls, rounded at the tips, as did the earliest Old English spoons. Old English and a few late hanoverian bowls became more pointed as the end of the Century approached. IP: Logged |
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akgdc Posts: 289 |
posted 08-05-2004 10:06 AM
Interesting photos, and they support what I said about French spoons. Which brings us back to the question of the alloy. But perhaps that's a topic for a separate thread. IP: Logged |
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middletom Posts: 467 |
posted 08-09-2004 09:59 PM
Since Fred has thrown my name into the ring, I will mention that the broad points on some of the bowls pictured were intentional. The silversmith left greater thickness at the tip when forging the bowl, then when filing the face of the bowl, trimmed back the face a bit along the sides of the bowl and pointing up the portion at the tip. Those shown with less tip have perhaps suffered greater wear, or the tip was made less pronounced originally. I notice in the pictures that with most of the spoons shown, the punch which impressed the bowl was itself quite pointed. At ONC, the patterns which have pointed tips, rather than mearly thicker,rounded tips, are shaped with less pointed punches, thereby making the pointed face more pronounced. I doubt any were ever made thicker to one side, so perhaps the nearly new ones shown had been owned by a left-handed person. IP: Logged |
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