posted 03-20-2005 10:55 PM            

Attached is piece that has been in my "permanent collection" for some years now. While fascinating, it does have several imperfections that have puzzled me ever since I purchased it. I think I have it solved, but I doubt I will ever know for certain the full life story of this piece.

At any rate, here are the facts: A massive soup ladle, not particularly long but heavy. The bowl is raised and applied to the handle (yes, applied). The handle appears to be cast, possibly in more than one section (more on that later). The front of the handle terminal is a mass of Royal Navy equipment, including naval ensigns, a cannon, cannon balls, a musket, a grenade, a cutlass, and a rope & anchor, among other things. The back of the handle features a large shell, with a monogram in period style. I am sure there was a crest or some other engraving in the hollow between the two, as the surface is unnaturally smooth. Just one indignity of several!

The marks are obscured, and the sharp-eyed observer will note the bubbles associated with solder. However, the maker's mark (left) is readable as IS. The two clear marks on the right are a rather unusual U and the duty mark.

On the upper right is a side view of the stem at the position of the marks. Note the unnatural "hump". On either side of the hump on the top of the stem, one can detect solder as well.

It is well established that cast terminals, such as those on Onslow pattern ladles, are normally attached with a scarf joint. Because the handle on this piece appears to be entirely cast, including the decorative shell where the handle is applied to the bowl, it is tempting to think that the solder just shows where different parts were assembled. This does not account for the poor state of the marks, though. Neither does rubbing.

My theory is that the handle cracked or broke at some point right around the marks. The "hump" is actually a patch soldered over the top of the crack to strengthen the stem. This repair process caused solder to overflow the crack and fill in the missing marks. I could be wrong, but I think that is what happened.

Now for what is good about the piece! The maker's mark can reasonably be attributed to John Scofield, a noted maker of candlesticks and other items utilizing cast parts. The U date letter would date the ladle to 1795-96. Now it just so happens that the Nelson Collection at Lloyds of London, home to several spectacular pieces of silver with naval associations, owns two soup tureens with very similar naval decoration, made by Scofield and dated 1795.

It is tempting to suggest that my ladle may have been made to accompany one of these tureens (one is gilt, so possibly the other). At the very least, we know Scofield did make pieces in this vein, and I believe my ladle was likely part of some sort of presentation, if not the companion piece for one of the tureens. I suppose that the missing crest might have answered the question.

There are still plenty of questions that could be asked about this piece, including the big: Is it real, or a made-up piece? I believe it is real, albeit unfortunately modified.

Anyway, there it is. It should be good for a bit of discussion!

posted 03-21-2005 12:02 AM            

And I shouldn't be surprised if the ladle weren't associated with the tureens, but it is always possible a geater number of "sets" were made to commemorate an event (or the anniversary of one) in naval history. Nelson's victory (and death) at Trafalgar, which would have been a likely candidate, however, occurred in 1805, 10 years after the date of the silver.

posted 03-22-2005 07:58 AM            

The images only “hump”.

posted 03-22-2005 10:27 PM            

I'm afraid I need to clarify a bit, though. The Nelson Collection, while containing lots of pieces associated with Nelson himself, has a number of other Navy-related silver pieces, including the tureens. The tureens were actually commissioned to commemorate two captains who were killed during "The Glorious First of June", a major fleet action in 1794.

You can actually visit the Nelson Collection on-line at

PDF file

and see the tureens. It is well worth reading the information about the Patriotic Fund, which paid for the creation of a number of the pieces in the collection. Many were awards for gallantry in action.

BTW, I have sent pictures to the Collection, but the ladle has not excited any interest with anyone there. I'm not sure why, exactly; maybe if it had its original presentation!

posted 03-24-2005 10:30 AM            

One of these was Cuthbert Collingwood, who has good American connections!