York Town Mark Silver Basting Spoon, 1836

It is very rare to find the town mark as part of York silver hallmarks on flatware and yet this basting spoon not only has one present but it is also a fine, crisp example.

This 12" long fiddle pattern serving spoon is clearly struck to the terminal with seven stamps (the sheer number of marks is one reason why the town mark was almost always omitted from flatware). From the top we have:

• JB/WN (makers mark for Barber & North),
• lion passant (Sterling standard silver),
• William IV head (duty mark),
• leopard's head crowned (the juristriction of Goldsmith's Hall to maintain the Sterling standard),
• A (date letter for 1836),
• city's arms ("on a cross five lions passant gardant" as town mark - generally only found on larger pieces of hollowware)
• S (Martin Gubbins in "York Assay Office & Silversmiths" suggests that rather than being a journeyman's mark "it may have a somewhat greater significance and perhaps be associated with the Assay Office" - page 32) 

The spoon itself is a fine quality example in fine condition with a good thick bowl tip and no engravings to the terminal.