A LARGE PARCEL-GILT LADLE

MAKER'S MARK OF WOOD & HUGHES, CIRCA 1868

Details

A LARGE PARCEL-GILT LADLE
Maker's mark of Wood & Hughes, circa 1868
The oval terminal applied with three beads, the medallion cast in high relief of a portrait bust of a lady with ivy entwined in her long hair, on stippled ground, apparently of the writer and poetess Mary Ashley Townsend known as Xariffa, the reverse of the medallion engraved To Xariffa from Townsend & Lyman Feb 14 1868, with openwork lyre below, the long tubular handle terminating in gilt-shaped trefoil bowl--15½in. (39.3cm.) long, 9oz.

Provenance

By descent

Lot Essay

Mary Ashley Townsend (1832-1901), was born Mary Ashley Voorhis, in Lyons, New York. In 1865 she married Gideon Townsend, a wealthy merchant and banker in New Orleans. In 1870 were produced "Georgia Volunteer" and the first collection of poems by "Xariffa". She contributed to the Picayune, for which she was best known. She also wrote "The Brother Clerks, a tale of New Orleans, which was published in 1859. Her ultimate poem and public appearance were in honor of the birthday of Robert E. Lee.

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