Norwich Silver Trefid Spoon, 1697 Elizabeth Haselwood

This is a very rare example of a Norwich silver trefid spoon complete with Norwich assay office marks and those of the lady silversmith Elizabeth Haselwood.

This William III period trefid spoon has a long handle with lobed terminal featuring the cut-out trefid shape. The bowl has a rattail to the reverse side and is engraved with original, dot-pricked initials "AC" over "1703". The spoon bears the final date letter used by the Norwich assay office in 1697. It is possible that either this spoon was presented a few years later or that the date letter was used after 1697.

This spoon has an excellent set of Norwich hallmarks and from the bowl working up along the stem, they are: "EH" crowned mark of Elizabeth Haslewood (or Haselwood), the two Norwich assay office marks featuring a castle over a lion and a crown over a rose and finally the date letter "K" for 1697. The spoon is in excellent condition.

As the second-largest city in England during the middle-ages and up until the 17th century, the production of silver in Norwich in the late 17th century was relatively buoyant, however the passing of the Britannia Silver Act in 1697 forbade the assaying and marking of silver outside London and by the time it was permitted again in 1701 the momentum of silver production had been lost. The date letter cycle that had begun in 1565 and run spasmodically for 130 years ended in 1697 with the letter "K" as shown on this spoon. See Jacksons (Pickford edition) page 339. As evidenced by this spoon, it is likely that this punch was used for an extra few years before silver production in Norwich finally ceased.

According to Christopher Hartop in "East Anglian Silver 1550-1750", the three generations of the Haslewood family between about 1625 and 1740 produced some of the best provincial seventeenth century silverware. Arthur Haslewood died aged forty-six in 1684 and his widow took over the running of the family business. Elizabeth Haslewood prospered in business and even continued making silver after the 1697 Act before passing on the business to her son Arthur. She died in 1715.