Featured Sterling spoon with applied gold colored initial

I recently got this very large serving spoon (Francis I - Reed & Barton) with an initial. I don't have any other with this type of monogram and am wondering what it is.

It's on the back of the handle and is a large initial made of gold? brass? that is applied soldered? in place. What would it usually be made of?

 

I assume it's either solid gold, or a gold wash/plating process. Brass would've shown signs of tarnish.

 

Well it certainly resembles gold and based on the level of wear on the spoon I'd sort have imagined a thin gold plating would be worn off at least a bit, and isn't.

I first thought I'd remove it but now I'm thinking maybe I'll just pretend it's a relative. DH did have "F" relatives. It's a nice hunky spoon.

I usually buy sterling with a thought to scrap value.

 

I don't remember ever seeing this style on monogram applied to flatware. It's quite impressive.

 

Is this a woman's face in the circle??? Or just gobbledygook???? NIFTY spoon, BTW!!!!

 

Glad I'm not the only one who finds this unusual.

That little circle just has some gook in it. The only marks are the R&B mark and the patent date. I've always liked this pattern and have several pieces of it.

 

And I see you cleaned it out!!!!! It's a VERY nice serving spoon!!!! I see in your new images that the "F" really DOES look Gold!!! Even NICER!!!!

 

See no reason to think it's other than gold - if part of a set, might have been done as a special order at R&B, or could have been applied by a jeweler. Personally, wouldn't even consider removing it - makes a stock piece into something special...

~Cheryl

 

Was going to write that I have been told it is difficult to solder 2 different types of metal together, but decided I'd better do some checking first. Apparently gold to silver is not really a problem, so can't rule out gold on those grounds.

 

It does make it interesting I guess.

I've got so many assorted patterns of sterling flatware and I like using mixed patterns but when I decided to gather enough of one readily available pattern to use as a matching service this was one of the two patterns I narrowed it down to. I decided on Sir Christopher but still pick up the occasional piece of Francis I.

 

I'm completely out of my depth here, but every image I can find identified as being the Francis I pattern looks like this:



leaving no room for an initial?

 

It's on the back of the handle, it's a big serving spoon 9½" long. The initial is ½" tall and ¼" wide. (I'm a bit challenged with taking photos of shiny things)

 

I'm waaay challenged when it comes to deciphering photos. Now it all falls into place. Wonder whether the F family had a whole set of flatware with the applied initial or only serving pieces? If genuine gold & whole set, quite an extravagance!

 

Hi,
As to initials on flatware. The custom was to have the wife's maiden name as an initial. I have several pieces of my great great grandmothers silver and the initials made no sense to me. Then I read that the wife's maiden name was on silver and embroidered on linens.
greg

 

I had not heard of using the wife's maiden name initial for this. Seems a little odd, as the flatware is typically acquired in connection with the wedding, so, since it was conventional for the wife to change her name, you would think the wedding silver would reflect the union & the start of a new family.

The linens I get, because girls used to hone their needlework skills by making, hemming, embroidering, bed linens, tea towels, etc. to put in their hope chest. They would not know their future husband's initial.

Any chance great-grandmother inherited the silver from her mother?

 

Hi,
Perhaps it was an American custom but that is the way I learned it. Of course it was a Victorian thing which has changed but that is the way it was told to me. Her maiden name was Whall and she married into the Lewis side of the family.
greg

 

Any initialable table silver given Before the wedding is given to the bride, and marked with her initials.

Any initialable table silver given to the Happy Couple AFTER the wedding is marked with one initial (for the last name), OR the bride's initials, ie: S allie J ohnson M asters. If the latter, the initials are usually done SMJ, with the M being a tad larger.

Gentlemen get to have their initials on various items of toiletry, cigarette cases, pens, etc.

 

My grandmother's wedding linens and silver (plate) had an F on them for Fries, her maiden name, so it was still being done that way in the 20s. A lot of the time, back when, linens would have been made by the family well before the young lady was even being courted, so her married name wouldn't even be known.