Exeter Trefid Spoon, 1695

A fine example of a West Country trefid spoon with an interesting set of marks. This spoon is in excellent condition with a good, unworn bowl and a nice patina. It has a bead rattail to the reverse of the bowl and dot pricked initials to the reverse of the terminal. Unusually, the betrothal initials are precisely dated to "January 1st 1722" and these post date the actual manufacture of the spoon by some 25 years.

This spoon bears three marks - "WE" in a lobed punch twice for William Ekins of Exeter (working period 1673 to 1712) and "NB" conjoined between "EX" above and "ON" below - for Nicholas Browne of Exeter (working period 1691 to 1730). Tim Kent refers to this combination of marks on pages 72 and 86 of "West Country Spoons" where he suggests that Browne made the spoon during the 1690's and Ekins was most likely the retailer.