St. Peter Silver Apostle Spoon, 1639

Made during the Charles II period by the top spoonmaker Thomas Payne, this is an excellent example of an antique silver apostle top spoon and features St Peter to the finial.

The cast and gilt apostle figure to the terminal bears a sacred dove nimbus (representing the Holy Ghost's descent from heaven) and carries a key in his left hand. The key is the emblem of St. Peter and in Matthew xvi 18-19, Peter was given the Keys to the Kingdom of heaven. The use of one, two or three keys by painters in artistic depictions of St. Peter, began to be used during the eighth century, representing the keys to Heaven, the earth and Hell.

This is a fine quality spoon with a good, solid feel in the hand. The spoon has all the characteristics one would expect from a mid-17th century spoon, including the flattened, hexgonal stem, deep, fig-shaped bowl and hallmarks spread between the bowl and lower, reverse side of the stem. The reverse side of the bowl is dot-prick engraved with betrothal initials in a triangle (likely to be early 18th century in date). It is a major bonus that the London hallmarks all remain crisp and the overall condition of the spoon is excellent with a good patina and unworn bowl.