Protectorate Silver Puritan Spoon, 1654

This is a very competitively priced English silver puritan spoon dating from The Protectorate period when very little silver was produced.

The spoon has the diagnostic plank-like stem and ovoid bowl that typified the change in tastes at this time. The plain tastes of the period meant that this spoon is free from adornments and personal engravings.

Made by the specialist spoonmaker Steven Venables, this spoon is correctly hallmarked with leopard's crown to the bowl, maker's mark and lion passant to lower stem. The date letter is correctly located towards the terminal and is a great example of the rarely encountered complex Gothic-style letter "R".

The spoon's condition is good with an unworn bowl, however the surface of the bowl is somewhat pitted from use and there is a very small nick on the edge of the stem. Seeing passed these distractions, you have a very good example of a spoon from a period where few can be found.

During the interregnum period (1649-1660), England acted as a republic with Parliament running the country during the Commonwealth period (1649-53) and then as The Protectorate (1653-1660) when Oliver Cromwell (a latterly his son) ruled as Lord Protector.