AntiquesPublicity.com - The Britton Smith Collection Of Early Spoons, Part One

An extensive private collection of early English silver spoons dating from 1450 to1710 has emerged to be sold at Bonhams in New Bond Street on 21 November 2007. Part One of the collection features around 50 spoons, with estimates ranging from £60-£7,000.

The vendor has spent the last 60 years amassing the hoard of spoons. His passion took off in the 1940s when he was stationed in Salisbury as an artillery captain in the Second World War. His first purchase was a silver stuffing spoon he saw in a shop window and with this first spoon a life-long fascination was born.

The collection comprises many different styles of spoon including slip tops; maidenheads; lion sejant; virgin and heart; apostle; seal top and rat-tail Hanoverian.

One of the rarest pieces in the collection is a Henry VIII silver slip top spoon by Robert Amadas dated to around 1515 and estimated at £6,000-7,000. It is 14-½ cm long with a fig-shaped bowl and faceted stem. Robert Amadas had an established goldsmith business and became one of the richest men in the City due to Henry VIII’s patronage, making him one of the most powerful Prime Wardens of the 16th Century.

Other highlights include:
An early 17th Century West Country silver lion sejant affronte spoon by Edward Anthony, Exeter, circa 1630-40. Estimate £4,000-5,000
An Edward VI silver apostle spoon, St James the Lesser by Nicholas Bartholomew, London, 1548. Estimate £4,000-5,000
A rare Edward IV/ Richard III provincial silver maidenhead spoon. Estimate £3,500-4,000
A Henry VIII silver slip top spoon by William Simpson, London, 1515. Estimate £4,000-5,000
A mid 17th Century West Country silver lion sejant affronte spoon by Edward Antony, Exeter, circa 1651. Estimate £1,500-2,000
A George II silver rat-tail pattern tablespoon by Joseph Healy, London, 1727. Estimate £60-80

Posted: 11|6|07 at 10:45 am. Filed under: News.