First Year Birmingham Assay Silver Sauce Ladle, 1773

This is a fine example of a silver sauce ladle bearing hallmarks for the first year of the Birmingham Assay Office in 1773. This piece would have been one of the first items to have been processed in the new facility.

This sauce ladle is in a King's pattern shape with a decorated reed & ribbon border that was presumably copied from a French design and made exclusively by Matthew Boulton and John Fothergill. In England, the main King's pattern did not appear until the first decade of the 19th century.

This is a lovely looking sauce ladle and is additionally engraved with an excellent crest featuring a walking wild boar. It is in fine condition with a crisp set of hallmarks.

After years of lobbying by the city's silversmiths and toy makers and lead by the powerful Matthew Boulton, Birmingham finally opened its own assay office in 1773. This silver sauce ladle bears the letter "A" of that very first year and furthermore includes the makers mark of Matthew Boulton in partnership with John Fothergill - there's was the first entry in to the register.

Birmingham Assay Office was formed in 1773 mainly due to the efforts of Matthew Boulton. The Soho factory belonging to Matthew Boulton was intent upon speeding up production and cutting down the costs of manufacturing top quality silver items. It was Boulton's patronage that lead to the success of James Watts' steam engine. Boulton entered in to a partnership with John Fothergill in 1762, but they never made a profit and the partnership ended in acrimony in 1782.