St. Matthias Apostle Spoon, 1635

This is an outstanding Charles I period silver apostle spoon featuring St. Matthias with an axe. The spoon has a tremendous weight and feels like a really high quality spoon in the hand. The condition is fabulous too - the rim to the bowl has no wear and appears to be as thick as the day it was made! The gilt, cast apostle terminal is well-modelled and has a sacred dove in relief to the nimbus. The reverse of the bowl has slightly later "EW" dot-pricked initials that are dated to 1668.

The hallmarks are generally very good too, although the maker's mark has been struck twice making it difficult to read, but is almost certainly BY over a gate for Benjamin Yates (see final photo for comparison with Yates' mark illustrated in "London Silver Spoonmakers" by Tim Kent.