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Lot Essay
Diamond-Point Spoons
Diamond-point spoons first appear at the end of the 13th century and eventually replaced the acorn-knop as the most common form of spoon (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. 161). Their name comes from the facetted shape of their finial, which Commander and Mrs How suggest is based on the prick or goad spur which was common in the 13th century.
One of the earliest examples of a diamond-point spoon with full London marks is one of 1498 (The Benson Collection, Christie's, London, 4 June, 2013, lot 333, £25,000) but examples are known with several versions of the early Leopard head mark including the 'Indian' head (The Benson Collection, op. cit., lot 312 and lot 313, £31,250 and £40,000 respectively) and 'Syrian' head (The Benson Collection, op. cit., lot 317, £22,500) as well as unmarked examples.
Like the acorn-knop spoon, diamond-points are also recorded in inventories. The 1487 will of Richard Morton lists 'ii dozen and vi spoyns with dyamond poyntes' (T. Kent in the introduction to D. J. E. Constable, The Benson Collection of Early Silver Spoons, Golden Cross, 2012, p. 3).
Diamond-point spoons first appear at the end of the 13th century and eventually replaced the acorn-knop as the most common form of spoon (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. 161). Their name comes from the facetted shape of their finial, which Commander and Mrs How suggest is based on the prick or goad spur which was common in the 13th century.
One of the earliest examples of a diamond-point spoon with full London marks is one of 1498 (The Benson Collection, Christie's, London, 4 June, 2013, lot 333, £25,000) but examples are known with several versions of the early Leopard head mark including the 'Indian' head (The Benson Collection, op. cit., lot 312 and lot 313, £31,250 and £40,000 respectively) and 'Syrian' head (The Benson Collection, op. cit., lot 317, £22,500) as well as unmarked examples.
Like the acorn-knop spoon, diamond-points are also recorded in inventories. The 1487 will of Richard Morton lists 'ii dozen and vi spoyns with dyamond poyntes' (T. Kent in the introduction to D. J. E. Constable, The Benson Collection of Early Silver Spoons, Golden Cross, 2012, p. 3).