posted 03-07-2017 07:19 AM            

Above are some large spoons that sometimes are called stuffing spoons or sometimes rice spoons and sometimes platter spoons. The largest is 14 3/8 inches by James Conning from Mobile. The Kings pattern was one of the most popular patterns in Mobile and this example is really at the upper limit of how big a spoon should be. This spoon was made during the height of the cotton economy in Alabama and may reflect the owner’s desire for something bigger and better than anyone else had. This was also the time period when interior door knobs in Alabama plantation homes were made of silver.

The next largest is 13 ¼ inches was retailed by William Adams and has the manufacturer’s marks of Henry Hubbard and Co. This spoon has a hook on the back and I think that was used to secure the spoon on the side of a platter. With the hook one can lay the spoon down on a platter and it will not slide into it.

The last three in this group are English Onslow pattern spoons with the first two of these 11 ½ inches long and the last of these 10 7/8 inches long. The last one is by James Tookey with a date mark of 1763. The two above this one have marks that are not readable but both have an interesting engraving of what appears to be a row of trees. Does anyone recognize the meaning of this engraving?

I think that the Onslow pattern is one of the most elegant patterns made and in this thread Agphile showed wonderful examples of the various forms this design took. Swarter also provided a great explanation of the history of this pattern.

Large spoons have always fascinated me and we go out of our way to look for ways to use them.

posted 03-07-2017 07:21 AM            

The last four spoons are between 9 ½ and 9 ¾ inches long and are large serving spoons instead of stuffing spoons. They are by Nehemiah Bassett, George Hendel, Abner Reeder and Joseph Shoemaker. We actually do not use these spoons. Somehow the term coffin spoon has never been appealing to me and I brought one just to have an example. The other three are picture back spoons and more use would just erase some of the birds.

I would love to see other examples of large spoons as they continue to intrigue me.

posted 04-14-2017 11:28 PM            

Above are some more large spoons with a Shiebler stuffing spoon in the Kings pattern on top and a Ball, Tompkins and Black stuffing spoon in an Olive pattern on the bottom. The Ball spoon is 12 ½ inches long and weighs 125 grams while the Shiebler is 12 ¼ inches long and weights 188 grams. I don’t know if this is typical of Shiebler, but this spoon’s weight is more than any other stuffing spoon that I have. The Conning spoon shown in an earlier post is longer, but only weights 154 grams. I think that a traditional pattern like the Kings pattern is unusual for Shiebler and this may be a design produced by one of the companies he acquired.

posted 04-14-2017 11:29 PM            

This set of flatware includes a Kirk stuffing spoon with what I think were the assay marks from 1838 until 1843 when Samuel Steele was the assayer in Baltimore. It is in the Kirk Kings pattern and is 11 ¼ inches long. For reasons that I do not understand, I have seen very little silver from Baltimore that have any assay marks, but there must be a lot out there as they assayed their silver from 1814 until 1843.

The last two pieces came together and are billed as a salad set although the spoon by itself could be a stuffing spoon. They are by Whiting and are in their Lily pattern. The Whiting lion is facing left and I think at some time the lion was changed to look right. These may have been made between the time Whiting left off the 1902 patent information and Gorham acquired Whiting.