Spoon found on Penobscot Bay

From my original post: A woman at my church has a spoon she found 40 years ago on Penobscot Bay near the town of Northport, Maine. She's been examining it and wondering about its origin all these years. I took pictures for her and will upload them later this week. (A week became a month!) Hoping someone will recognize the spoon and satisfy her curiosity.

 

Circa 1880-1895. Nickel silver. If it was mint condition it might be worth a buck or two. As is it is worth about a buck a pound.

 

Thank you; that was fast! Any idea of country of origin?

 

The value of finding an item yourself and being able to relive that moment in your life and that day every time you pick it up in the years to come= Priceless

 

Poetry. I know the spoon has given my friend pleasure and flights of fancy.

 

I would say that design it almost certainly American. It was probably an old worn second hand piece when it was lost on a beach picnic.

 

Hi Cordelia! I am absolutely amazed that I found a picture of this design.. As already mentioned, silver-plated and American. It's pattern name is unknown, but an example was found by Davis and Diebel with the backstamp of "Sterling Silver Plate Co." Unfortunately, at the time that they compiled their second edition in 1981 they were unable to determine which company used this tradename. They assigned the #4 to this design (there were 3 others with the same backstamp, also pattern name unknown.)

 

Took another dive into my reference library and found that Dorothy Rainwater was able to find that the tradename "Sterling Silver Plate Co." was used by Holmes, Booth and Haydens of Waterbury, CT, which firm was sold out to Rogers and Hamilton in 1886. R and H apparently did not continue the use of the SSPC tradename. So your friend's spoon was made before that.

This "japanesque" design style came into popularity in the late 1870's and lasted until after the 1886 date mentioned above.

 

The spoon is so light, and it has that little hole in the bowl. Yet many generations of hands and then the elements could not wear away its grace notes.

 

Wow Wow Wow Bakersgma! Amazing info. Thank you so much for the historical details. Margaret will be thrilled with all the info!!!

 

Ooohhh! You are good Bakersgma!

 

Thanks, buying time. I would blame it on a misspent youth, but it's more like a well-spent retirement.

 

Shared your amazing research and comments with Margaret this afternoon. She was thrilled to learn that the spoon is so old. She recounted again how she found it, and how she loved the area where it was -- she'd spent many happy hours there in her youth. "Priceless" definitely captures the old spoon's value to her. Here's a pix of Margaret and Duchess today, filled with gratitude for all your help.