New Permission....my First Spoon! But How Old Is It?

[Dirtshark]

 

Brand new permish.

So I meet the homeowner and get the grand tour. Like Disneyland for detectorists. Great family, and they are friends of my brother. I have no friends, lol. 

Old place. Cellar holes, abandoned well, the works. I do a quick scan and because I am an idiot and forgot my shovel I just dug a couple signals with my hand tool. So I am just scanning, listening to the iron, kinda just seeing what is obvious. 

I look down and I see what the Legend beeped at and there sticking out of the ground was a spoon. I grab it and give it a look over, saying....hmmm could be old. Maybe pewter. Possibly colonial. 

I head home and look over the spoon. A ground find essentially, and I think to myself, dang, this looks old. 

What do you guys think?

Looks primitive and thin.

[Chase Goldman]

Definitely old.  Looks like mid-to-early 1800’s based on the classic fiddle handle design.  Clean it up and look for a maker’s mark on the underside of the handle (are you sure it is not silver or silver plate?).  From there you can google the name and get an idea of when and where the silversmith or metal craftsman plied his trade.

[Dirtshark]

28 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Definitely old.  Looks like mid-to-early 1800’s based on the classic fiddle handle design.  Clean it up and look for a maker’s mark on the underside of the handle (are you sure it is not silver or silver plate?).  From there you can google the name and get an idea of when and where the silversmith or metal craftsman plied his trade.

No markings. Very plain.

 

[SwiftSword]

These folks claim that spoons made from two parts generally date to the 17th century, even! 

[schoolofhardNox]

That is a hard spoon to date. I don't think it's 17th century, but I'm going along with Chase on this one, but guessing it to be a little bit earlier because of how it is attached on the back. (late 1700's to early 1800's). Hopefully someone can match that one up exactly.

[F350Platinum]

Could that plate soldered to the back and bowl be a repair? 🤔 Photos not clear enough to see any separation on the front. The handle seems to go straight to the bowl on the front, and it looks like a reinforcement was added.

[Rick N. MI]

There definitely is a piece added at the spoon & handle on back. It looks like it might have bent at one time and reinforcement was added. I agree it needs more close up photos. Nice fine.

[Cascade Steven]

Very nice find.  Congratulations.  Regarding the "plate" on the back of the spoon, I would like to respectfully offer an additional option.  I have done a little metal casting work over the years and learned that sometimes such a "plate" or thicker section was added initially when the spoon was either stamped or cast.  This "plate" section was used to reinforce the junction between the bowl and handle of the spoon as that is a weak spot.  If the "plate" was added later, there should be a very fine line at the contact.  This line may not be visible until the spoon is thoroughly cleaned and examined under magnification.  However, if the craftsman was very good, they could blend the contact so it is almost unidentifiable.  Just a little food for thought.  Again, congratulations on a nice find.

[Dirtshark]

9 hours ago, Cascade Steven said:

Very nice find.  Congratulations.  Regarding the "plate" on the back of the spoon, I would like to respectfully offer an additional option.  I have done a little metal casting work over the years and learned that sometimes such a "plate" or thicker section was added initially when the spoon was either stamped or cast.  This "plate" section was used to reinforce the junction between the bowl and handle of the spoon as that is a weak spot.  If the "plate" was added later, there should be a very fine line at the contact.  This line may not be visible until the spoon is thoroughly cleaned and examined under magnification.  However, if the craftsman was very good, they could blend the contact so it is almost unidentifiable.  Just a little food for thought.  Again, congratulations on a nice find.

 

Thanks, I was wondering about that back plate, I couldn't see any examples that looked like that. Made me think it was older than 1800s but I have no idea.

I will examine the plate and see if it has a fine line like you suggest.