Galleon-back Mote Spoon, 1760

This is an extremely rare silver mote spoon with a galleon in full sale featured to the reverse of the bowl. It is often suggested that galleon picture backs were made to celebrate a British naval victory and they more typically appear on teaspoons. The scene on this mote spoon or tea skimmer is well preseved with plenty of detail intact. The bowl is attractively pierced and has a diamond-shaped spike to the terminal. This Georgian spoon is marked in typical fashion to the stem; the lion passant is clear, but the maker's mark is too pinched to read.

Mote spoons were used to skim the dust particles from the top of cups of tea and also to clean out clogged-up teapot spouts.