Plymouth Silver Laceback Trefid Spoon, c.1695

This is a fine example of a west country silver laceback trefid spoon made by John Murch of Plymouth.

Made during the reign of King William III, this spoon has a lovely laceback design to both the reverse of the bowl and the front of the stem and is typical of the maker John Murch who favoured this style. The reverse terminal is engraved with an original dot-pricked betrothal triangle where "M" and "H" represent the first names and "L" the surname of the newly weds.

The spoon bears the "JM" in script makers mark (twice) for the Plymouth silversmith John Murch. He is also known to have used a "ster" over "ling" mark and interestingly the two additional marks on this spoon can be seen to be this punch and purposefully struck with just the edge - so the "s" & "t" and ""r" & "g" can be seen.

There is a little wear to the laceback design to the back of the bowl, but considering the 325+ years age, it is actually still pretty good. The front decoration remains crisp, the bowl retains its original shape and the overall patina is excellent - a very nice spoon!

Murch was working in Plymouth from the early 1690's and was previously apprenticed to the eminent London spoonmaker Thomas Cory. Murch's spoons are therefore superior in quality to many other provincial silversmiths of the period and this laceback trefid is a fine example of that extra calibre. See Tim Kent "West Country Silver Spoon & Their Makers 1550-1750" page 113-114 and M.94 for an illustration of the maker's mark.