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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 Toy spoon maker
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| Author | Topic: Toy spoon maker |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 07-22-2003 11:33 AM
  
[19-0328] Does anybody know who made this toy/miniature spoon? It measures only 3 1/8" long and is marked "M" between two leaves. IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 07-22-2003 12:43 PM
It looks like the photo of the mark might be upsidedown??  IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 07-22-2003 01:21 PM
The only similar mark I have seen is given tentatively to Daniel Booth Hempstead the elder:  IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 07-22-2003 02:25 PM
It looks like a Gothic or Old English M to me, but I do not recall seeing the mark before, either. IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 07-22-2003 07:06 PM
The mark could indeed be upside down--I'm so used to reading marks a certain way, I didn't consider it could also be a Gothic "W". The first thing I thought of when I saw this spoon was that mark you picture, wev. I didn't remember it was an "H", though, 'til I got home to check the forums, I only recalled it was a letter flanked by foliate designs. Also, how would everybody classify this spoon--toy, miniature, sample, or otherwise? [This message has been edited by Paul Lemieux (edited 07-22-2003).] IP: Logged |
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Anuh Posts: 190 |
posted 08-24-2003 02:50 PM
quote: At that size, it could be a salt spoon, although I don't generally associate salt spoons with pointed bowls; however, I have seen demi-tasse spoons that small and you would probably have to know more about the specifics of the pieces made by that specific maker to be sure what it was intended for! ------------------ IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 08-31-2003 07:31 AM
I seem to remember something from the Kovels that these are children's spoons and hard to come by. You might check that out but I was unable to find anything more on the subject. IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 08-31-2003 01:35 PM
vathek, thanks for the tip. I will try to look into it. I always take silver advice from the Kovels with a grain of salt, though. However I do seem to remember seeing in some English book I have on spoons a similar statement. Doesn't Rainwater say somewhere that manufacturers sometimes made little sample spoons to give potential customers an idea of what they made? But I don't see how necessary this is, since it couldn't have cost much more to make a full size coin teaspoon (as opposed to salesmen's samples of desks, etc.). Plus this piece is monogrammed and was obviously used. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 08-31-2003 05:40 PM
Victor Houart, in his book Miniature Silver Toys states that such miniature items were commonly made in England and Holland - so much so that there were even specialist silver toy makers - but not elsewhere. He mentions a few toy silver items made in Boston, but does not treat American miniature spoons, except to say that they exist - implying that he considers them also to be toys. I have seen two or three small collections of these miniature American spoons, many (if not most) of which were unmarked (in spite of the fact that they are easily markable), which would seem to argue against the idea that they were manufacturers' samples -- anonymity is a poor method of advertisement. IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 08-31-2003 06:12 PM
Fales, in Early American Silver, shows a quartet of 2" spoons from a private collection. They are standard c 1820 fiddlebacks and are engraved, best I can make out, "Catherine" on the handle front. They are unmarked, but presumed to be from a Boston maker. IP: Logged |
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bascall Posts: 1629 |
posted 10-04-2008 09:26 AM
There was an historical newspaper article, which I'll never find again, that had to do with a women describing the contents of a jeweler's shop window. Her final item that she mentioned was the baby spoons which apparently were coffee spoons. Others will no far better, but from my recollection of years spent in the "Old U K," the spoons used for coffee were fairly small. IP: Logged |
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argentum1 Posts: 602 |
posted 10-04-2008 10:00 AM
I have a small group of like sized spoons and always thought of them as condiment spoons. I bought them for the novel size and never actually asked anyone what they might be used for. This was when silver was 50.00 an ounce so I stopped at the local shop that bought silver. He would put everything into the furnace at the end of the day so I stopped everyday before he committed his heinous crime. IP: Logged |
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dragonflywink Posts: 993 |
posted 10-04-2008 10:35 AM
Have been cataloging my Mom's open salt and salt spoon collection for years and found these rather interesting - Duhme obviously understood the value of advertising as their name and location is rather prominent on the tiny little spoons. ~Cheryl IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 10-05-2008 05:21 PM
See Agphile's post (Miniature Spoons) on the subject in the British Forum. These "toy" spoons are not to be confused with the 4 1/2" teaspoons common before the Nineteenth Century (tea was expensive and served in small cups), nor with the later demitasse ("coffee") spoons. IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 11-09-2008 09:41 AM
    Hello all, Here are my personal American minis. The best is the Hanoverian example, posted here many years ago, by Daniel Dupuy of Philadelphia. There are some interested scratched names and dates on the handle front anf bowl back, possibly from descednats of the original owner. The pointed bowl/round handle spoon is marked CT, as shown. My best match is Charles Tinges of Baltimore, but it could be someone else entirely, or even an English maker. The fiddles are marked J. H. HAWES, whom I have been unable to trace at all. The spoon may even be plated rather than solid; I am still on the fence on these. Anyway, enjoy! Brent IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 11-09-2008 09:55 AM
There was a J. H. Hawes who was a druggist and fancy goods merchant in Marietta OH c 1840-1850. Another J. H. Hawes was a watchmaker and jeweler in Ithaca NY at the same time. [This message has been edited by wev (edited 11-09-2008).] IP: Logged |
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agphile Posts: 798 |
posted 11-09-2008 12:32 PM
Thanks for showing these, Brent. Nice to have a little group like this that runs through the sequence of patterns. The American Hanoverian example must be quite a rarity, I imagine. I don’t think I can try to claim the OE example as English. I cannot spot a likely maker of the right period with the right initials. Also the spoon somehow doesn’t quite look English to me – something about the drop and the placing of the mark. Generally speaking, if it were English it would need to be earlier than 1784 to have just the maker’s mark, but as the OE pattern was around from the 1760s onwards this doesn’t help determine the question. However, I would like to think you have an all American group and I have indeed enjoyed seeing them. IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 11-09-2008 10:11 PM
Thank you for the responses. Good to get a lead on Hawes after so many years, but it could well be eaither of them. I got the spoons in California, so that is no help. The CT spoon came from California as well; does anyone have any other possible American attributions? I can post a larger photo of the mark. Thanks again, Brent IP: Logged |
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