Colonial Shaker Tops? Solved!!

[steelheadwill]

Hi All!
Ive found many of these pewter/white metal items at Colonial sites,
Always thought they were salt/pepper shaker tops.
Well, I discovered salt was dispensed from a salt cellar until John Mason (of Jar Fame)
invented S&P shakers in 1858. (I still use a salt cellar )
(LINK DELETED< SEE BELOW FOR TEXT)
Likely these shaker tops I find were used to sprinkle sand on handwritten documents to speed the drying of the ink.
I was pleased to learn about this!
HH All
Here's a couple I dug this year:

 

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[steelheadwill]

Interesting spoon Prof,
you can really see the size when compared with the Merc.
Seems bowl size is important in IDing a 'Salt Spoon'.
Here is a rather strange spoon I dug last summer, (My only good 'plowed field' find!)
This is only about 4" long with a seemingly oversized bowl,
it doesn't seem to fit salt, souvenier, or plain tableware criteria.
Maybe used for some Christian ritual
Thanks for showing! congrats on a nice piece of silver

 

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[aka da Prof]

huh-- that is an interesting spoon--perhaps from a convent or perhaps sold as to raise cash for one? It has enough info on it that it might be I.D. -did you google the company?

 

[steelheadwill]

huh-- that is an interesting spoon--perhaps from a convent or perhaps sold as to raise cash for one? It has enough info on it that it might be I.D. -did you google the company?

They are a company specializing in custom precious metal doodads of all sorts,
including yes, souvenier spoons
(and the company is quite close to where the spoon was dug!)
One of their most popular items is a Sterling teapot shaped tea infuser,(judging by epay listings)
I have one of these somewhere, exactly where I can't say right now.
But when I see it again I'll check for the Amcraft mark.. Most likely it is.
Never saw a Souv spoon like the dug item though, usually the bowl is in proportion to the handle... I have a lot of them, surprising how much sterling you can find going through boxes of 25-50c spoons at flea markets, yard sales, AND antique/junk shops.
Ive gotten some oldies too, one commemorates Napoleons loss at Waterloo with British hallmarks dating in the 1850s
another has an Period American MM, with a Radiated '1820' in crude script inside the bowl, I don't know what this one represents.
One with 'Inverness' in the bowl, British hallmarks for 1919, figured out it celebrated the incorporation of Inverness Fl in 1920.
I gotta say a lot of dealers either don't take the time to look, or don't know what they actually have. it works both ways too, I've seen enough 'Alpaca' & 'German' silver,
and pieces that look like 1 oz rounds, but aren't, selling as Silver.
Anyway, this started about shakers and somehow migrated to spoons..
Great Stuff! HH All

 

[aka da Prof]

up, it tok a turn--- you could start a new thread by posting you spoon, if you haven't already. Well, we gotta make the best of this unseasonably warm weather --H.H. to you to, STW---- da Prof

 

[steelheadwill]

up, it tok a turn--- you could start a new thread by posting you spoon, if you haven't already. Well, we gotta make the best of this unseasonably warm weather --H.H. to you to, STW---- da Prof

Not the first time posts head off into different subjects
Raining here in NH, maybe good hunting this afternoon...
I've been picking through the iron at some new (old) cellarholes, finding bits of brass,copper & lead.. but nothing good,
it shows there are still items to be found, and that my technique is working,
many of the pieces could have been good finds, and would have been dug by previous hunters had they aquired the signals through all the iron.
I've posted the bought spoons somewhere on here before,
What the hey, I'll show them again, good buys with some history.
The hallmark dates I stated were from memory, I may have been a bit off
lemme see if I can find them, my 2011 folder is getting BIG
Best digs to ya Da Prof
And in no particular order, here's my 2011 souvenier spoon buys,
ah, the 1820 isn't a souvenier, it's a Kimball teaspoon

 

[aka da Prof]

nice!!! never spoons engraved like yours- could be a New England standard. Here's another quick 'off thread' find I'll mention. From a 1790's house up here in the F.L.'s was Wellington Victory at Waterloo half penny!! along with a 1 reale-I kept the reale and the owner the Wellie-- have been meaning to trade him back for it--

 

[MRBeyer]

learned alot, thanks for the posts

 

[steelheadwill]

Great sounding token, gotta research that one...
depending on conditions, I probably would have kept the Reale also...
MRBeyer, good to hear from you! look forward to reading your posts
HH All!