posted 02-01-2017 08:43 AM            

I’ve already shown some of the following spoons in other threads but a recent purchase tempts me to pull them together in a single topic. Whip end salt spoons from the 18th century are not particularly unusual. Like many small items from this period they are normally unmarked. Here is a little group of three alongside a Victorian intruder.

From left to right we have:

- basic whip end shape, unmarked, mid 18th century,
- variant with twisted stem, unmarked, mid 18th century,
- variant with whip curling in other direction and an improbable kink forming a heart shape,
- the Victorian intruder by William Dudley, Birmingham, 1849, here just to show that the form re-emerged with the rococo revival.

The design and workmanship is of much higher quality than that of the salt spoons. The two spoon bowls are clearly from the same mould. Neither spoon is marked but I am inclined to think they are earlier rather than later, i.e. pre 1750.

The teaspoon has the simplest form of stem and whip end. The very few other examples I know of have more decoration on the stem. Anyhow, I am delighted to have the new spoon both as an example of a rare pattern and as a mate for my mote spoon.

posted 02-01-2017 09:14 AM            

You say "clearly from the same mould".

They look dye struck not cast.

Also the marks in the bowl look like they were nicely done. Seeing a closeup might be fun.

posted 02-01-2017 06:17 PM            

As to whether the bowls were cast or die struck, the decoration on most English spoons of the period was die struck. One exception was the naturalistic or foliate form of rococo spoon. I assumed cast in the case of this pair partly because there is some relationship to the naturalistic rococo style but more particularly because of the way the moulding that rises from the bowls wraps round the stems. I could be wrong, but it doesn’t look die struck to me. I certainly wouldn’t want to generalise from the example of this particular pair, however.

posted 05-10-2017 05:10 AM            

One entry that caught my eye was for the 12 unmarked salt spoons that were associated with a set of saltcellars of 1752 by Frederick Kandler, so presumably of the same date and possibly also by him.

My scan of the illustration may be a bit hazy but I think you can see that, as well as another version of the whiplash stem, we have bowls that, although smaller and more worn, are the same pattern as those on my tea and mote spoons. It is a bit tenuous to think I can therefore link the tea and mote spoons to Kandler as well, but it probably helps date them and place them firmly at the top end of the market at the time they were made.

Meanwhile, I have picked up another rather worn salt spoon with yet another variant of the stem. I probably would not have bothered if I had not started on this thread and thus found myself thinking about the pattern as I looked through the stock of a dealer friend. I blame the forum for tempting me into expenditure.

posted 05-15-2017 03:44 AM            

As regards rarity, if I wanted another mid 18th century condiment spoon in this style it probably wouldn't take me too long to find one here in the UK. However,it is unlikely that there would be more than one or two examples on the market at the same time.

If I wanted another teaspoon, on the other hand, I might have to wait years or even decades. And, as I mentioned earlier, I doubt whether any larger spoons in this style were ever made.