Restoration Period Silver Puritan Spoon, 1663 John King

This lovely-looking silver puritan spoon was made in the early years of Charles II's reign. 

The spoon has the typical plank-like stem and flattened out bowl (compared to the fig-shaped bowls of seal top and apostle spoons) that you would expect from a puritan spoon. The end of the stem is engraved with original IH initials and the spoon has a nice feeling of quality in the hand. The spoon was made by John King who was a particularly important spoonmaker and pivotal in the lineage of master/apprentice specialists. 

The condition of the spoon is excellent with a nice colour and unworn bowl. The hallmarks to the reverse of the stem include a fine "IK" maker's mark, a partially worn but legible Gothic "f" for 1663 and a worn lion passant - the less than perfect state of the hallmarks accounting for the very competitive price on what is a highly desirable mid-17th century spoon.

John King was apprenticed to William Cary in 1653 and the master/apprentice relationship can be traced all the way back to Nicholas Bartholomew in the middle of the 16th century and forward via his own apprentices (Lawrence Jones, Thomas Allen and others) to the important spoonmakers of the 18th century.