This delightful pair of heavy silver spoons were probably made in London in the 1730s before being refashioned into ‘berry spoons’ in the 19th Century. Such recycling of silver used to be extremely common in Britain.
New railways and the expansion of empire made a wide variety of fruits available throughout Victorian Britain and created a need for an equally fashionable utensil for serving and eating them. This led to the ‘berry spoon’ around the 1840s. However, rather than making brand-new berry spoons, many silversmiths found it easier and cheaper to refashion old silver spoons.
The original hallmarks have been largely struck out or rubbed away. Only the maker’s mark is clearly visible on the stem, ‘IG’ inside a rectangle. This is the mark of John Gorman and Jeffrey Griffith, silversmiths active in London in the 1730s. Part of the lion passant mark for sterling silver (92.5% pure) also remains.
The spoons therefore were about 100 years old when an early Victorian silversmith turned them into berry spoons. The bowls were given attractive embossed fruit decorations by pressing on a die, and the top of the bowl was then washed with gold to protect the silver from fruit acids. The fronts and backs of the handles and stems were also elegantly engraved.
Condition Apart from the maker’s mark, most of the Georgian hallmarks have worn or been defaced. The Victorian decoration is all intact, with little sign of use or wear.
Length: 19.5 cm
The spoons weigh 104.2 grams. The pure silver content is 96.4 grams.
