Lot 316
316
A HENRY IV SILVER RINGED ACORN-KNOP SPOON
THE BENSON COLLECTION (LOTS 301-340)
A HENRY IV SILVER RINGED ACORN-KNOP SPOON

CIRCA 1400

Details
A HENRY IV SILVER RINGED ACORN-KNOP SPOON
CIRCA 1400
The fig-shaped bowl with slightly tapering facetted handle, terminating in a cast acorn finial with wreath or spiral-fluted ring below, the back of the bowl engraved with initials
6¼ in. (15.8 cm.) long
1 oz. (30 gr.)
Provenance
Dr. Wilfred John Harris (d.1960), 74 Harley House, Marylebone Road, London, NW1.
Dr. W. Harris; Christie's, London, 19 June 1957, lot 103, (£270 to How).
The Benson Collection.
Literature
Commander G. E. P. How and J. P. How, English and Scottish Silver Spoons, Mediaeval to Late Stuart and Pre-Elizabethan Hallmarks on English Plate, London, 1952, vol. I, p. 154, pl. 3.
D. J. E. Constable, The Benson Collection of Early Silver Spoons, Golden Cross, 2012, pp. 38-39, no. 10.
Exhibited
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2006-2012.

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Matilda Burn
Matilda Burn

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Lot Essay

Commander and Mrs. How suggest that this spoon is based on a baluster acorn knop such as one of first half of the 14th century (How, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 110) however it is also possible that the finial could be of heraldic form. This can be suggested based on the distinctive spiral-fluted ring which bears a striking resemblance to a torse or wreath, which is the twisted roll of fabric which is usually depicted below a crest in English heraldry.

Other spoons which were created specifically for an individual are known, such as a set of twelve spoons with cast owl finials, the owl being a rebus on the name Hugh Oldham, (How, op. cit. vol. I, p. 270) and the 'BW' spoon of 1494, offered here as lot 332.

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