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Charles I Seal Top Silver Communion Spoon - Daniel Cary, First Fifteen London Spoonmaker
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Reference: S1660
Period: Charles I
Year: 1639
Silversmith: Daniel Cary
Place: London
Price: $ 2 100.00
Weight: 45 grams
Dimensions: 17.1 cm
Condition: Very fine, well preserved, no wear to bowl, traces of gilding.
Description: A Charles I silver seal top communion spoon, which has holes in the bowl for straining communion wine. The seal top has the original initials "C over A=L", which is quite crudely engraved. The baluster seal top has traces of gilding, and is attached with a V-shaped joint, as is usual with London spoons. The hexagonal stem is tapered, joined to the bowl with a small rat tail. The fig shaped bowl is quite deep, and has been punched with holes in 3 concentric circles. The bowl is struck with the crowned leopard's head, the crown is clear, but the face is worn. The 3 hallmarks on the stem are clear, and include sterling lion, date letter B for 1639 and maker's mark D enclosing C for Daniel Cary. Cary was a prolific spoon maker. He worked between 1604 and 1639, he died in 1641. Cary is one of the "First Fifteen London spoon makers 1580 - 1697" As identified by Tim Kent in his book "London Silver Spoonmakers", which we highly recommend. Steven Venables, another notes spoon maker, was one of Cary's apprentices. According to the article "A Communion Spoon and its History" by Peter Bentley, Finial March 2008, page 8, Ecclesiastical pierced spoons, for removing foreign bodies from communion wine, are known. However it is difficult to know if the piercing is contemporary or was added later. We believe the piercing of the spoon to be old, the holes are worn into the fabric of the spoon. Commander How (English and Scottish Silver Spoons, Vol II, pg 300) depicts an Elizabethan Apostle spoon with pierced bowl, which he describes as a very fine spoon with later piercing circa 1740. He notes the presence of many pierced spoons in Protestant Churches (for removing flies from Holy wine), he also notes that pierced spoons are known from Elizabethan times. so some pierced spoons could be original. He also states that he does not believe the spoon has been ruined, and that if the piercing is well done it should be considered as part of its history, and should still have more merit than a later spoon, noting that his spoon is still a first class example of an Elizabethan Apostle. Note: An interesting article entitled "Communion spoons in the City of London", by Paul Holmes, has been published in the Journal of the Silver Society No. 31, 2014, the earliest recorded communion spoon is 1631.
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Charles I Seal top silver communion spoon - Daniel Cary
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Seal top spoon - Daniel Cary
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Baluster Seal Top
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Initials Silver seal top spoon
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Back of seal top spoon
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Seal top spoon bowl - straining holes
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Close up of holes
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Hallmarks Daniel Cary
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Town mark in bowl - Leopards head
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Scale
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