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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 unusual Asa Blanchard ladle
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| Author | Topic: unusual Asa Blanchard ladle |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 01-14-2006 03:47 PM
  
This Blanchard ladle is an unusual form having a small but deep bowl. It's 6" long. Does anyone know its use. Perhaps some Southern thing? thanks IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 01-15-2006 10:54 AM
Is there any indication that the bowl has been re-worked? IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 01-15-2006 10:58 AM
I'd just call it a sauce ladle. They aren't all that common in coin silver, but I have seen a few, including a Kinsey from Cincinnati. It is a little too big for mustard, not quite as big as a gravy. Brent IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 01-15-2006 12:14 PM
it appears to be as made, looking at the thickness of the rim of the bowl, etc. I don't think it holds more than a half ounce give or take. IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 01-15-2006 01:14 PM
I'm thinking it would do nicely for serving out creamed oysters. IP: Logged |
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outwest Posts: 390 |
posted 01-16-2006 01:07 PM
Is Blanchard a very common name? It is the surname of ancestors of mine from late 1800's in Ohio area. IP: Logged |
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Fitzhugh Posts: 136 |
posted 12-06-2006 02:14 PM
These round bowls are common in Lexington, Paris, (inner Bluegrass) region pre-1820. IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 12-08-2006 11:50 AM
thanks for that info Fitzhugh. Seems like they must have been made for a specific purpose and I wish I knew what that was. IP: Logged |
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Dale Posts: 2132 |
posted 12-08-2006 11:11 PM
Crabapples? Preserved peaches? Looks like it would work well with pretty much any kind of round food. Particularly one where you want some liquid, so not a pierced bowl, but not a whole lot. Just my guess. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 12-09-2006 12:13 PM
quote: You may well have silversmithing ancestors - There is a Blanchard dynasty stretching nearly 200 years from Asa Blanchard in early 19th Century neighboring Kentucky to Porter Blanchard working until fairly recently here in Southern Callifornia, if I recall correctly. Search for the Blanchard name in the Forums. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 12-09-2006 01:31 PM
I agree with Brent that these are sauce ladles, rather than gravy or condiment, and I do not find them confined to the South. The ones I find most unusual, though, are the really deep ones, and I am not sure what they may have been used for, if not for sauces - maybe thicker syrups? The right hand one (lower left in the upper photo)with shell is by R. & W. Wilson (Philadelphia), and the left hand (and upper) plain one by a J. Morrow. I have not been able to locate Morrow, but the ladle shares some characteristics of early Ohio Valley spoons. Each is about 6 1/2" long. IP: Logged |
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FWG Posts: 845 |
posted 12-09-2006 03:29 PM
Agreed -- that one does look Ohio Valley-ish. There's a Frank Morrow in Cincinnati c.1836-44, but that was the closest I came to a match -- just a bit on the late side too, I'd say. Tennessee lists a George Morrow in Hardin Co. c.1860, but of course that's far too late. Kentucky and Indiana books list no candidates (in case you haven't had access to either). Getting back to Blanchard, I got to see a fair amount of his work when I spent a year in Lexington in the mid-'90s. He seems to have often put a slightly idiosyncratic twist on things, and I'm inclined to see the bowl on this piece in that light. I'd also agree with calling it a sauce ladle. [This message has been edited by FWG (edited 12-09-2006).] IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 12-09-2006 04:56 PM
Thanks - I do have those references. I was hoping someone would have found it in one that I don't have! IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 12-09-2006 05:14 PM
From a 2003 Rootsweb discussion on the Morrow's of Kentucky comes:
quote: I have no idea of the accuracy of any of it [This message has been edited by wev (edited 12-09-2006).] IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 12-09-2006 05:59 PM
Interesting. I wonder what those spoons look like. The second James might be a better candidate for this ladle, based both on its style and the indication that there really was such a silversmith at that time. IP: Logged |
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FWG Posts: 845 |
posted 12-10-2006 09:41 AM
Does anyone know Marc Boultinghouse? I met him a couple of times, but have no idea if he's still around there. Since he didn't include Morrow, and seems to have been pretty thorough in his research, I'd be curious to hear what he thinks. IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 12-10-2006 10:40 AM
I profess large ignorance here, but I know I've heard tell of (and maybe seen) CREAM ladles--used for thickened cream as part of a tea service. Does that make any sense in this context? All the specificity of the suggestions above seems a little too victorian for the relatively early nature of these little ladles. I don't think we'd gotten into the "serving piece for every food item" mindset yet--but clotted cream and such was commonplace with tea back into the 18th century. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 12-10-2006 12:30 PM
The deeper ones make sense for something lumpy, but what was the size of teacups of that period? Certainly they were smaller than those of today, but even though they drank from the saucer rather than the cup, they had to fill the cup first, and these ladles, although small, seem large for small cups. Bowls of the two deep ones above are 1 1/2" in diameter and 1" deep, while a couple of similar but shallower round ones are 1 3/4' in diameter and 1/2" deep. The commoner half-inch deep ones of similar size are not quite round, being 1/4" or so wider than long (probably pouring better from the side). Vathek, what are the dimensions of the Blanchard bowl? [This message has been edited by swarter (edited 12-10-2006).] IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 12-10-2006 01:10 PM
I imagine in the days that this ladle was made the customer often specified certain details of construction for his or her own perceived needs. Blanchard may have been an accommodating silversmith and made what the customer wanted. IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 12-11-2006 06:38 AM
Swarter: the dimensions of the Blanchard bowl are approx 1.25" wide, 1.5 long and .5" deep. IP: Logged |
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argentum1 Posts: 602 |
posted 12-11-2006 08:37 AM
Possible spoon conversion to a small ladle? IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 12-11-2006 01:28 PM
Argentum1: unlikely. The thickness of the bowl is uniform. IP: Logged |
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FWG Posts: 845 |
posted 12-11-2006 02:19 PM
vathek, there's one point that I don't think has been adequately raised here yet: congratulations on a fine acquisition, and thanks for sharing it! Blanchard silver is some of the most desirable in Kentucky, both for its early status and scarcity and for its fine workmanship and those idiosyncratic tendencies I mentioned before. When I wrote before that I had seen a fair amount the year I was in Lexington I did not mean to suggest any sense of commonness, but rather that those who have it are always quite proud of it. This is really quite a fine piece! On further reflection, if I were describing that form I'd probably just call it a "small ladle" and hope that that lack of specificity would convey its difference from the truly tiny bowled condiment ladles. Whether used for cream or sauce or some other purpose is probably unknowable. I do agree, insofar as can be said from photos, that it does not appear to have been remade from a spoon. I seem to recall seeing an Aberdeen ladle from around the same period, and about the same size, that had a bowl longer than it was wide -- otherwise I can't think of another such example. IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 12-11-2006 03:49 PM
FWG: thank you for your comments. I am indeed very happy to own this piece and find it an interesting addition to my modest collection. IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 12-11-2006 04:12 PM
I went poking around the shoeboxes under my bed (the only vault storage I can afford) and came across this graceful Connecticut example by Merriman & Bradley. It is 5 3/4" long; the bowl is 1 1/2" in diameter and just over 5/8" deep. My sister informs me that in Huntsville AL where she lives, there is an old traditional recipe for a chunky sweet sour relish made of melon rind, brown sugar, vinegar, cayenne pepper, and other spices. A ladle like this would be ideal for such a concoction. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 12-13-2006 05:09 PM
See the W. P. Rogers thread for another ladle with a round, but smaller bowl. It is 6 1/2" in length, but looks like a salt spoon or condiment ladle in the photograph. Its wide handle makes the bowl appear deceptively small. As this thread was getting too long, I opened a new thread for it. [This message has been edited by swarter (edited 12-13-2006).] IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 01-13-2007 07:25 PM
I saw Marc Boultinghouse in Atlanta this week and he confirmed the general opinion expressed here that the Blanchard ladle was a sauce ladle. He also agreed with FWG that Blanchard produced quite of quantity of silver and is not as scarce as some other Kentucky silversmiths. Blanchard was a high quality silversmith and his works were in demand by Kentuckians. He was not familiar with J. Morrow. His comment was that he had access to better research materials than Hiatt did and that in turn writers of today have better access to research materials than he did. I looked at the copyright notice in his book and was surprised that it was written almost thirty years ago. He had some good news also. A new book on Kentucky, not written by him, is about half finished. P.S. I did not mean it was good news that Marc was not writting the book, but that someone is undating the information in Marc's book. [This message has been edited by ahwt (edited 01-13-2007).] IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 05-16-2008 12:24 AM
    Above is another small ladle from Blanchard and is very similar to the Merriman & Bradley ladle. This one is 5 ¼” long; the round bowl is 1 3/8” in diameter and is ½” deep. I would think that these small ladles were used for a spicy or tangy sauce where small amounts were all one wanted. IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 05-17-2008 02:09 PM
These ladles would have to be for something which one would not want a great quantity of as it would otherwise take a long time to ladle it up, but I have to wonder just how hot and spicy something would have to be to want so small a quantity. IP: Logged |
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