Fiddleback Pewter spoon bowl? US military issue fork, silver Washington, license tag

[RatherBeDigging]

The U.S. marked fork is made by Sil Co. By 1945 military changed to corrosion resistant steel. This is either tin plated or silver plated. Not much plating left. Washington quarter came from same field as the fork. License plate registration tag is from my grandfather's yard.
The pewter spoon bowl is from a new spot in a rocky creek behind a 1770s mill. Am I correct to call it fiddle back? Definitely pewter. Any idea in age?

 

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[Erik in NJ]

I really like the license tag. I found one of those once too. I'm surprised we don't see more posted. What state are you in?

 

[Red-Coat]

The pewter spoon bowl is from a new spot in a rocky creek behind a 1770s mill. Am I correct to call it fiddle back? Definitely pewter. Any idea in age?

Not really correct. Before answering I need to show the anatomy of a spoon for terminology reasons:



‘Fiddleback’ refers to the overall shape of the terminal, handle and stem (F,G and E). Note that the example above has ‘fins’ on the shoulders (D) but not all fiddlebacks have these and finned shoulders are also seen on non-fiddleback spoons.

Fiddlebacks originated in France but it wasn’t until about 1800 that English makers added them to Old English Patterns that already had a finned shoulder design; and then ‘finless’ fiddlebacks appeared shortly after that. In America it seems to have been the other way round… fiddlebacks came before fins; and then fins on both fiddleback and non-fiddlebacks appeared after that.

In short, you can’t say for sure whether a broken spoon with finned shoulders was a fiddleback or not. Neither can you reliably date it based on that feature alone.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Red-Coat,

What a great image and it seems like you know your spoons well. Is there a definitive book or books you can recommend on learning all about spoons? If not it seems you are an encyclopedia! Thanks again.

Not really correct. Before answering I need to show the anatomy of a spoon for terminology reasons:

View attachment 1853622

‘Fiddleback’ refers to the overall shape of the terminal, handle and stem (F,G and E). Note that the example above has ‘fins’ on the shoulders (D) but not all fiddlebacks have these and finned shoulders are also seen on non-fiddleback spoons.

Fiddlebacks originated in France but it wasn’t until about 1800 that English makers added them to Old English Patterns that already had a finned shoulder design; and then ‘finless’ fiddlebacks appeared shortly after that. In America it seems to have been the other way round… fiddlebacks came before fins; and then fins on both fiddleback and non-fiddlebacks appeared after that.

In short, you can’t say for sure whether a broken spoon with finned shoulders was a fiddleback or not. Neither can you reliably date it based on that feature alone.

 

[CRUSADER]

Red-Coat,

What a great image and it seems like you know your spoons well. Is there a definitive book or books you can recommend on learning all about spoons? If not it seems you are an encyclopedia! Thanks again.

http://www.pewterbank.com/Spoons_..articles..13.pdf
Here is a good starter article.

I would say the OPs spoon is circa 1800 give or take.

 

[RatherBeDigging]

@Erik in NJ. The license tag was found in New Jersey. I'm in Pennsylvania though.

Regard the spoon I really appreciate the help. I've only been detecting seriously since May. It's the 1st spoon I've found without obvious web searchable markings. And the oldest by far. Basides this I'm up to 2 whole silver plated spoons circa 1939, a silver plated fork circa 1939 and the U.S. fork. 0 knifes so far. Guess I should go back to the creek.

 

[Red-Coat]

Red-Coat,

What a great image and it seems like you know your spoons well. Is there a definitive book or books you can recommend on learning all about spoons? If not it seems you are an encyclopedia! Thanks again.

Thanks. That's a great article posted by Crusader, but it specifically relates to British Spoons (including of course those that made their way to America). I don't know of any specific reference source that delivers what you're looking for, but I would caution that most of the sources which do exist have the same issue... they focus on specific countries or regions and provide information which is not necessarily universally applicable.

Bearing in mind that I'm now going to make some generalisations which relate to probabilities rather than certainties, my take would be as follows. Your spoon has finned shoulders, although not large ones. If it were British made, that wouldn't help much with dating. If it were American-made then, with those fins, it's not likely to be pre-1800 and more likely 1820-1830-ish.

The stem is rather thin and that points to it more likely being American-made since utilitarian American spoons around this time tend to exhibit a conscious effort to reduce the amount of material in the spoon. The bowl has to do what it has to do (although it can be thinned a bit), but economising on material comes from things like reducing the 'heft' of the stem. For that same reason, although it could have been a fiddleback, it wouldn't make sense to reduce the stem thickness to conserve material while creating a fiddleback design that required more material than other handle types.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Excellent relic hunt, congrats!