Featured Sterling Tea Caddy Spoon

I did look it up a bit. Date 1826(?) and London assay. Maker (could be SM or WS)? Do you think this is stamped metal? I'm guessing the industrial revolution had progressed far enough to manage that.
16.2g
3-7/16” long (8.7cm)

 

I think it is WS looking at the serifs. Lots of makers with these initials.
https://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Makers/London-WN-WS.html#WS
Maybe William Schofield?

 

What on earth would it be used for.....doesn't matter!!! I still LOVE it!!!

 

Shovelling tea into a tea pot!

 

Ooooooh, Thank you Houseful, that WASN'T one of my thoughts!!!!

 

Think MOS already identified it in the thread title, that’s how I knew!

 

One spoonful for each cup and one more for the pot. That is how you make real tea.

 

And the pot should be swished round with hot water before you add the tea leaves and fill the pot with more hot water

 

Absolutely! And if you really want to put lead in your pencil, buy some Glengettie tea

 

I find the orientation of the S a bit ambiguous, but the other letter does seem somewhat more W-ish than M-ish. Was Schofield a particularly prolific maker?

There sure are a lot of options. Also maybe William Skeen?

 

D?

 

Yeah, caught that. Edited.

 

Ah!

 

No, it doesn't appear to be in photograph, looks like 2 separate pieces (handle & bowl) joined/soldered together.

 

There is nothing wrong with this caddy spoon, it is a Fiddle Shell with a nice drop, and was hand-wrought in one piece (no soldering). Machine production came in around the 1840s-'50s, and William Schofield, a known spoon-maker, is most likely the maker.


Here is an 1821 caddy spoon of similar form by William Schofield, with an Old English handle rather than Fiddle Shell:

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/...0021/lot-317b51b0-9774-4e66-9ca2-a8cc014aaa2a




An 1829 Fiddle handled caddy spoon by Joseph Read:

https://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique/georgian_silver_caddy_spoonldn1829_by_jread/as421a547




If interested in British flatware, or even flatware in general, highly recommend Pickford's 'Silver Flatware: English, Irish and Scottish 1660-1980' (1983).


~Cheryl

 

It's an interesting discussion.

 

Cheryl has the right of it. Until steam presses became far more prevalent, hand wrought was the thing, so yes, this is made with by paw. Nice scallop shell.

 

Never seen or heard of this tea. I shall investigate in the future.

 

I had cause to ask about stamping. The first coins minted on a steam press were produced by the Soho Mint in 1797.