Winchester Child's Dog Nose Spoon, 1690

This is a great example of a very rare 17th century silver child's spoon with the bonus of clear marks for the Winchester based silversmith William Webb. Measuring just under 6" long, this spoon bears betrothal initials to the reverse terminal, and the spoon was presumably given as a prompt to the happy couple! The spoon has a good bowl with just a hint of wear, a bold rattail to the reverse side and a little lamination (flaking) to the left side of the front terminal. Dog nose and trefid end child spoons are quite a rarity with very few appearing on the market in such good condition (the issues mentioned above are really very minor!).