✅ SOLVED Touchmark inside Copper Spoonbowl

[steelheadwill]

ANOTHER 'THREE SPOON' Hallmark FOUND!

Hi All

I hunted a site with a very rich historical background, among other items
I recovered this piece.
Heavy thick casting with makers touchmark.
Three spoons inside a circle, stamped inside the bowl.
just a trace of reinforcing rattail on the back.
Has anyone seen a marking on the inside of a spoonbowl?
feedback on date or any info is much appreciated! thanks for looking

 

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[DCMatt]

For what it is worth... From Archaeology of an Eighteenth-Century
Indian Village in North Carolina

Eating utensils are represented by two complete latten spoons and two spoon
handle fragments. Latten, which is composed of 73% copper, 25% zinc, and 2%
iron, was not made in England until the latter part of the sixteenth century (Raymond 1952:228). The latten spoon
recovered from Burial
1 has a round bowl with an unadorned straight handle that is hexagonal
in cross section. There is residue of tin plating on the bowl and a small
circular maker's mark on the concave bowl portion of the spoon. The mark appears
to consist of a circular cartouche surrounding three spoons (the outer two
pointing in the opposite direction from the center one) flanked by two
indistinguishable initials. Price (1908:35-37) contends that the three-spoon mark with
initials is a common trade mark. Unfortunately, no guild for whitesmiths had yet
been established in England in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century
(Merry Outlaw, personal communication). A second complete latten spoon was
found in Burial 8.
Stylistically, it is different from the one described above, in that it has a
seal-top finial on the handle and a fig-shaped (or oval) bowl. It also exhibited
traces of tin plating. The touch mark, clearly visible on this specimen, consisted
of a circle surrounding three spoons and the initials T and S. Again, no maker
or exact date could be determined for this spoon. The bowl of the spoon had
aboriginal modification in the form of incised geometric designs.
The interior designs resembled cursive "L"s, arranged in a series around the
bowl rim. The exterior patterns appeared to be a stylized chevron, again
arranged in a series around the bowl perimeter. Similar geometric patterns were
noted on a shell
gorget from Burial
1. Whether this spoon was worn as an ornament or was just a vehicle for
artistic expression is unknown. Similar spoons with similar touch marks are
reported for Susquehannock sites in Pennsylvania and are believed to date to
1660-1700 (Kent
1984:287-293). Noël Hume (1969:180-181) proposes that tin plating replaced silver
plating around 1650.

Also, BobinsouthVA found one with the same mark.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/w...e-thing-solved-trifid-spoon-1680-1700ish.html

DCMatt

 

[DCMatt]

From: [h=1]The Archaeological journal, Volume 56 - 1899[/h] By British Archaeological Association, Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland



DCMatt

 

[steelheadwill]

DC Matt,
Can't thank you enough! Great info.
I saw the letters on the outside of the circle, but couldn't positively ID them. tough to capture in photo, though the S is visible in the last pic.
all this time I thought a Latten spoon was the handle type prior to the trifid.. didn't know it was an alloy.
Green Check here! Thanks again! Herbie

 

[steelheadwill]

Well look at this clear 'three spoon' touchmark that was hiding under the saltwater crust
on this brass spoonbowl, it's a large spoon, open wide to get this one in your mouth !!
HH all & thanks for looking!! Herbie
That's a farthing for size comparison, like a US nickel.