West Country Trefid Spoon, 1685

This handsome and interesting West Country silver trefid spoon bears original leaf-engraved decoration to the front terminal that follows the contours of the three lobed terminal. The spoon is charmingly naive in construction and has a typically shallow, oval bowl and lightweight feel. There is a dot-prick engraved betrothal inscription to the reverse terminal “ED/EV/1685” and from the form of the spoon, this date is likely to also be the approximate date of manufacture.

We have been unable to positively ascribe the spoon, but it is clearly struck five times with the same crown mark (once to bowl and four times to reverse stem) and this mark is shown in Jacksons Pickford edition) as the final entry on page 324 and is possibly from the Salisbury area. The spoon is in excellent condition.