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tline3open  Salt Spoon ID?

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Author Topic:   Salt Spoon ID?
nihontochicken

Posts: 289
Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-31-2004 04:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for nihontochicken     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
[01-1703]

Another "fun" piece. This item appears to me to be American coin silver, but given that I've guessed wrong a few times recently, I'm asking this here on the "general" board! Here are the "hallmarks" and engraving on a salt spoon:

This spoon is standard fiddle pattern with drop. The "wrong way" lion passant along with the other Brit flavor "hallmarks" suggest an American origin, despite the very English looking engraving on the reverse (half lion rampant, half seahorse?). I found no matching "wrong way" lions in Tardy to suggest a continental origin. Next to the makers' marks is a Sheffield-like crown, then a bust? (or bird head?), then the backwards lion passant

Looking in Ensko IV for a pair of IM/NB silversmiths in the same town, the best I could do was John Murdock (seems a bit early, but John McMullin's mark utilizes a pellet) and Nicholas Burdock of Philadelphia (Nathaniel Burr's mark is a better match with no pellet, but he worked in Fairfield, Connecticutt). Sooooo, can anyone confirm or deny this conclusion? TIA!

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nihontochicken

Posts: 289
Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-31-2004 04:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for nihontochicken     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
One more pass through Tardy - could this be a Canadian spoon, NB = New Brunswick? I see the Canadians utilized pseudo-Brit hallmarks at the time of this spoon.

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swarter
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Posts: 2920
Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-31-2004 05:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for swarter     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The maker is John Munro of St. John, New Brunswick (1791 - 1874), silversmith and engraver. His mark is often misattributed to a watchmaker of the same name in Charleston, South Carolina.

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nihontochicken

Posts: 289
Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-31-2004 06:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for nihontochicken     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you, swarter! Any idea as to any significance of the engraving? The half lion rampant, half seahorse seems quite appropriate for a British maritime province.

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swarter
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Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-31-2004 06:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for swarter     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I believe it is supposed to be a heraldic form of "Sea-Horse." There is also a simiilar portrayal of a "Sea-Lion," but the head on yours looks more like a horse.

[This message has been edited by swarter (edited 08-31-2004).]

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