posted 07-14-2014 10:21 PM            

Above are four 7 ¼” spoons with Asa Blanchard’s mark. I probably found these because there are not many people looking for early American spoons these days. I think the rounded top and the chamfered sides are characteristic of early Blanchard spoons so these were fairly easy to spot - particularly with the lack of a shoulder. These four spoons weight 150 grams and that seems to be a little heavier that many spoons of this era. Also I think the size – between a teaspoon and a tablespoon – is a little unusual.

They are all engraved with the letter M. My wife’s family name started with “M” and her family passed through Kentucky on their way further west so they may well has been from some of her early ancestors. In any event it makes a good story.

posted 07-19-2014 04:28 PM            

A recent publication by Genevieve Baird Lacer and Libby Turner Howard entitled “Collecting Kentucky” has a large section devoted to silver from Kentucky and is worth buying even if you are not interested in the other collections shown.

Another book worth buying is the one by Amy Miller Dehan entitled Cincinnati Silver 1788-1840. Cincinnati was a major manufacturing center for silver and much of it was retailed in Kentucky. At 416 pages this is a major work that appears to have been well researched. Maybe it because of the internet, but recent books set a new standard for research results.