posted 10-28-2004 08:59 AM            

Hello all,

Here is a nice piece of Georgian silver, but I'm afraid I do not know quite what to call it. It measures 4 1/2 inches in length amd the bowl is 3 inches long. It has a simple downturned handle, with what looks like a tablespoon bowl at a right angle to the stem. Inset into the bowl is a Spanish silver coin, dated 1679. The hallmarks are for London, 1792-93, maker SA, likely Stephen Adams.

My initial thought was that it was a made-up piece. There may be a solder join on the stem about 1 cm from the bowl, but the drop is correctly swaged and the bowl shows no signs of having been removed from a spoon. I have to believe that this was not made up of parts, at least.

So, what is it? My best guess is that it is a medicine spoon. It could be an invalid feeder, but it is quite shallow and could only hold a small amount at one time. It has also been suggested that this is a form of wine taster, or maybe a tea caddy spoon. It may be something else entirely. I can't recall seeing another piece quite like it, but maybe I haven't been looking very hard.

I will be interested to hear what others have to say!

Brent

posted 10-28-2004 05:32 PM            

There was a similar discussion a year or two ago, think it was in the British/Irish forum. Posted illustrations of both etiquette and pap spoons. Would do a search, but my computer crashed over a week ago and I'm stealing time on someone else's (with molasses-slow dial-up!).

Cheryl