Charles I Silver Seal Top Spoon, 1629, Cary

This is a first class example of an antique silver seal top spoon dating from the early years of the reign of King Charles I.

This spoon is typical of the high quality expected from the eminent spoonmaker Daniel Cary. The cast seal finial retains most of its original gilding, is beautifully decorated and remains crisp.The flat plate is engraved with a mirror image engraved inscription "S" to "AM".

The spoon has a deep, fig-shaped bowl and the stem is characteristically hexagonal in form and tapers towards the finial. The condition is fabulous. The bowl has a nice, even and thick edge around the rim, the finial decoration is crisp and the hallmarks are super-clear with a fine example of the "D" enclosing a "c" mark of the maker (most often this mark is blurred).

Daniel Cary had been apprenticed to one of the finest spoonmakers of the Tudor period, Patrick Brue and went on to teach many of the best future spoonmakers with his apprentices including John Saunders, John Feake, William Scarborough, William Cary and Stephen Venables.