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Lot Essay
Animal Top Spoons
While many spoons which we see today conform to specific types, some, such as the present example, appear to be unique survivals. Their finials are often cast as animals, and probably have heraldic associations. Other unusual examples have finials cast as letters (The Benson Collection, Christie's, London, 4 June 2013, lot 334, £40,000). They are assumed to be connected to a specific family and thus would only have been made in very small numbers. Spoons with bird finials, despite seeming to survive in such small numbers, would seem to have been popular in the 16th century with examples described variously as 'having a white Martlett in the top' or being 'a ffawcon crowned' or a set of 'xii silver spones with gilt colombines [doves] at the endes' are all recorded in an inventory of the Royal Jewel House in 1549 (T. Kent, '2002 in Retrospect and a Great Rarity', op. cit., pp. 3-4).
Maker's Mark a Heart
Maker's Mark a Heart, which appears on many early 16th century spoons and hollowware, is discussed at length by Piers Percival in The Finial. In the first article on the subject, Percival considers the various candidates who many have used the marks of this important group of spoons (P. Percival, 'Maker's Mark a Heart (Part One) Some Possible Candidates', op. cit., pp. 4-7). In the second article he advances the Royal goldsmith Robert Amadas as a very likely candidate to be the maker (P. Percival, 'Maker's Mark a Heart (Part Two) Robert Amadas and the Spoon Inventories', op. cit., pp. 5-9).
While many spoons which we see today conform to specific types, some, such as the present example, appear to be unique survivals. Their finials are often cast as animals, and probably have heraldic associations. Other unusual examples have finials cast as letters (The Benson Collection, Christie's, London, 4 June 2013, lot 334, £40,000). They are assumed to be connected to a specific family and thus would only have been made in very small numbers. Spoons with bird finials, despite seeming to survive in such small numbers, would seem to have been popular in the 16th century with examples described variously as 'having a white Martlett in the top' or being 'a ffawcon crowned' or a set of 'xii silver spones with gilt colombines [doves] at the endes' are all recorded in an inventory of the Royal Jewel House in 1549 (T. Kent, '2002 in Retrospect and a Great Rarity', op. cit., pp. 3-4).
Maker's Mark a Heart
Maker's Mark a Heart, which appears on many early 16th century spoons and hollowware, is discussed at length by Piers Percival in The Finial. In the first article on the subject, Percival considers the various candidates who many have used the marks of this important group of spoons (P. Percival, 'Maker's Mark a Heart (Part One) Some Possible Candidates', op. cit., pp. 4-7). In the second article he advances the Royal goldsmith Robert Amadas as a very likely candidate to be the maker (P. Percival, 'Maker's Mark a Heart (Part Two) Robert Amadas and the Spoon Inventories', op. cit., pp. 5-9).