Crested Silver Mote Spoon, 1765

This good-looking silver mote spoon dates from the 1760's and unusually is engraved with a crest within the bowl - the style of the crest helping to date this spoon.

The spoon is pierced with crosslets to the bowl and has a diamond-point to the end of the shaft. The spoon is marked to the underside of the handle, but is tricky to decipher. The spoon is in fine condition.

Mote spoons were used for skimming dust motes from the surface of a cup of tea (a common problem for tea drinkers at a time when the product was carried in wooden chests) and the long tapering, pointed stem was used to unblock teapot spouts.