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An early seal top, or not

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Author	Topic: An early seal top, or not
agphile Posts: 798 Registered: Apr 2008	posted 02-15-2013 01:43 PM I am not sure whether to be amused or annoyed by this unmarked spoon. At first glance it seems to be a provincial English hexagonal seal top spoon of the 16th or early 17th century but, though my picture may not reveal the necessary detail, it only takes a moment to spot that something is wrong. The bowl is soldered to the stem. On an English spoon of the period spoon and stem should have been raised as a single piece. Then the finial is joined to the stem with a butt joint rather than the lap joint that would have been expected. However, all three parts of the spoon seem genuinely old. What I think has happened is this. Metal detectors will from time to time uncover broken bits of old silver spoons. When reported under the portable antiquities scheme such pieces are likely to be disclaimed and returned to the finder rather than bought in for a museum. There is not much of a market for broken spoon parts, nor would they be particularly interesting to display. Somebody has had the bright idea of soldering together three bits to make up a complete “antique” spoon. Obviously naughty if offered for sale as a genuine original, but it may not necessarily been done with this in mind. Was it an enterprising way of using what might otherwise be scrap? Or a reprehensible act of forgery and vandalism? I’d be interested to know how others react. IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2377 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 02-17-2013 10:55 AM Thanks for sharing your interesting story. I would doubt one would ever know for sure why the various pieces were put together; but I think that mystery just adds to the charm. I would be tempted to use this spoon as a spoon just for the fun of it. [This message has been edited by ahwt (edited 02-17-2013).] IP: Logged
vathek Posts: 966 Registered: Jun 99	posted 02-17-2013 01:27 PM maybe a long shot but is it possible a spoon maker had some failed attempts that they were trying to salvage? IP: Logged
agphile Posts: 798 Registered: Apr 2008	posted 02-17-2013 06:43 PM When you actually handle the spoon and see the detail of the joins that is not revealed by my inadequate photography, I think it is fairly clear that the assembling of parts was not done by a spoonmaker and that the parts do not all come from the same original spoon. Whatever the reason for putting them together, I find it a fun piece. I just have to make sure it is not mixed up with my genuine antique spoons. I would not want anybody to be misled about it after I am gone, or to think that I was taken in by it. It is one of a few items in what I call my sin bin of spoons that purport to be early but are not really, from outright fakes to altered and "improved" specimens, mostly aimed at deceiving the more naive collector. The history of fakery is not without interest. However, I would like to think that this one was not an attempt to deceive but simply an attempt to do something interesting with what would otherwise only have scrap value. A bit of recycling, if you like, comparable to the way one of my daughters has used salvaged items in the restoration of what was a very delapidated Victorian house. IP: Logged

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