MAKER'S MARK APPARENTLY IS, PROBABLY FOR JOHN SELDON, BARNSTAPLE, 2ND OR 3RD QUARTER 17TH CENTURY

The so called Buddha knop spoon is particular to the West County and more specifically to Barnstaple and Plymouth. While it's meaning and origin is not known it surely follows on from the "Aphrodite" spoons which were made in Barnstaple from around 1590 until about 1630. The present example seems to relate closely to an example with the pricked date 1624 which is illustrated and discussed on pages 210 and 211 of Commander How English and Scottish Silver Spoons, volumn two.

For an illustration of the maker's mark and further information on Buddha Knop spoons see Timothy Kent, West Country Spoons and Their Makers, pages 19-20 and 130.