At first our main interest was in Chapter IV and trying to put together a reference collection of the main 18th and19th century London makers and styles because this was within our means. Chapters X and XI, the Scottish and Irish arose initially due to the fact that in the 1980’s they were very plentiful in Norfolk, generally unrecognised, and extremely inexpensive, in some cases costing little more than the scrap silver value, having been catalogued as foreign.
Unlike many collectors we have been less concerned with obtaining the one perfect example rather than a wider field of examples, and have been prepared to keep both worn and damaged items where necessary when they have been the only ones available. Of course we could have disposed of large areas of the collection and concentrated the resources on a very narrow field, but I hope the catalogue shows that there are many rare and interesting spoons even in what many collectors regard as the modern era of the 18th and 19th centuries.
To me it is rather thoughtless that some authorities and purists seem to consider collecting pre 1700 as the only genuine area in the field, totally ignoring the fact that at today’s prices most collectors would be excluded altogether. My advice to new collectors is to find a field which is rather obscure and concentrate on that, since its unlikely that competition will be as fierce until it catches on. Believe me there are areas in spoon collecting still untapped and where prices are quite reasonable. It is the way we started, for in the 1970’s spoon collecting was almost unheard of when compared to such fields as glass or porcelain.
Living in Norwich it is hardly surprising that our interest has gravitated to the marks of the area and the makers who left to train and ply their trade in London such as William Scarlett. The actual numbers available for Norwich and East Anglia are small, indeed only about 200 pieces of Norwich secular silver exist, mostly spoons, and much of that is in museums notably the Castle in Norwich. We have in fact passed on more Norwich spoons to other collectors than we have retained, often in better condition, but needless to say 5 of the examples listed are currently unique in our experience.
No doubt all long standing collectors look back with nostalgia to the good old days and I still find it difficult to believe, how really few collectable early 18th century spoons one now sees, and how it has rightly become a serious collecting area. Yet when we were putting together the items in chapter IV in the late 1970s early 1980’s they were relatively common.
Besides disseminating information our other hope we have for the catalogue is that it will demonstrate that with today’s technology such an exercise is now possible and can be undertaken by the collector at relatively small cost. The real effort now is being prepared to learn how to use the technology and committing the time necessary to complete the exercise. It has always seemed sad to me personally, that the first one knows about an interesting collection is reading a catalogue of its sale, because the collector has died, or decided to sell for family reasons. The views of the collector can be very instructive to those just starting out, and it highlights the type of item available during the period the collection was formed.
We are well aware that it would now be difficult to find many of the spoons detailed, and the resources required in today’s climate are best not thought about, not to mention the question of security in releasing information. We also accept that collectors will totally disagree with some of the ascription’s and views expressed.
It would be of considerable help if they could find time to contact us with information to enable us to identify examples more accurately and update the archive. I am sure people will appreciate that our view is based on current research and information, which is a constantly moving feast, and we are only too well aware of our lack of knowledge in the various fields of collecting.
Our main reason for publishing the catalogue is the hope that it might enthuse more collectors whether of spoons or not, to enable them to enjoy the enormous pleasure that we have derived from this interest for almost 25 years. Perhaps also our efforts might enable other collectors to match items in their collection and push the boundaries forward a little further, and encourage other collectors in all fields to consider publishing details of there own collections to the benefit of all of us.
The Structure
The important aspect I wish to stress is that anyone reading the catalogue should not see this as one spoon collection. It is in fact a number of collections linked by the common theme of the spoon.
The initial starting point was Chapter IV, which was extended by Chapters III, V, VI, VII into an overall collection of London assayed spoons.
As explained in the overview the sections on Scottish (Chapter X) and Irish (Chapter XI) were slightly later but a parallel collecting field to the main one primarily because the items were so readily available at minimal cost.
The collecting of examples from East Anglia was a much later exercise which came about primarily because the earlier collections were becoming more and more complete, and the gaps more and more difficult to fill.
We could have disposed of the earlier collections or thinned them out to increase resources, and we seriously considered this approach. However the problems were less a question of resources and more a question of availability, so we expanded into new areas.
It became clear very quickly that the putting together of a serious collection of East Anglian examples was going to be very slow going. The numbers overall are so small they inevitably appear very in frequently, added to the fact that they have always commanded high prices. The collection demonstrates this in the number of examples which are currently thought to be unique out of a very limited field to start with
The final chapter in collecting terms came out of this realisation on East Anglia and led to an expansion into the English Provincial locations.
The chapters on William Scarlett (Chapter VIII) and the Batemans (Chapter IX) should be seen as part of the London collection, we have separated them out purely for convenience.
In our view therefore there are four distinct collections within the catalogue all in different stages of completion:-
1) London (Chapters III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX)
2) East Anglia (Chapter I)
3) English Provincial (Chapter II)
4) Scottish & Irish (Chapter X, XI)
PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE
One of the key components of the collections data base is it’s associated picture archive, which serves both as an easy visual record and an added security device.
The archive is held digitally both on disc and in the main computer system which makes it instantly accessible.
When contemplating producing this catalogue much time was spent agonising over the question of the inclusion of pictures, as they are so useful in identifying items. Whilst it would have been possible in purely practical terms to have reproduced every image, with a total archive of around 1100 pictures it was totally impractical in economic terms especially in colour. Rightly or wrongly we decided that it was impossible to decide which image warranted inclusion and which did not, so our ultimate decision was to include none at all. We have given a great deal of thought as to whether we might release the archive in its digital form, even allowing for the risk of unauthorised reproduction. Printing single copies on to paper in the conventional way is unfortunately not an option for us, due to the time resources involved. We realise that this approach will exclude anyone who does not have access to a computer system on which to view each image from a disc, but the technology is spreading all the time so fewer and fewer people will lose out over time.
After a great deal of consideration we have decided not to make the archive available at this time but we will keep the position under review. If we did decide to do so it would be on the following conditions:-
(a) No reproductions for any purpose whatsoever.
(b) An overall right on our part to refuse a request or to cease issue altogether.
(c) Only those acquiring a copy of the catalogue would be eligible initially.
(d) Copies would only be issued in Digital Form on Disc.
(e) The minimum request would be for a full Chapter of pictures.
We have included in the catalogue a full list of the various images available for each spoon. It is possible that we may seek to expand the archive in due course but the cost of producing the images to a top quality professional standard meant hard choices had to be made at this point in time.
Clearly if collectors have views on this aspect of the collection they can always contact us with their comments.
THE COLLECTION
People frequently ask collectors what starts them off and why a particular field. The initial spark was totally unconnected with collecting but involved a spoon brought back by my father after the war (code no ). It is a flat spatula like object with a rattail and a scroll end.
He was at Anzio and he found this in a ruined church after they finally broke out somewhere in the area of the altar. It was probably used for wafers or the like has a makers type mark on one edge and appears to be very old, 16/17th century.
It came to light again at the end of 1959 on his death when I had to deal with out his possessions, he must have kept it for some reason and it was important to him. Although I was interested in antiques, silver history etc. whilst in London, and had the money to indulge, I was not living alone and into sport and other things and it was never really feasible.
When we moved to Norfolk we were newly married and there were other more pressing matters to deal with including new jobs and a new house etc, which given its rather rural and detached location was quite insecure.
On moving to Norwich the security and ambience factors resolved themselves, however the building needed very significant restoration and the costs were substantial. We therefore confined ourselves to practical items such as furniture and silver for use, but we viewed many sales, spoke to people in the trade and developed contacts with the auction houses. Spoons tended to be an obvious choice given the item I already possessed and at the beginning in the late 1970'’ they were quite cheap in monetary terms especially for the more common types.
At first I concentrated on the readily available as \I was very involved at work and didn’t have unlimited time. Initially I was interested in acquiring a reference group of London 18th century tablespoons which was relatively easy and the others flowed from that. It was also clear even then that decorative areas such as sifters, caddy spoons etc. were already highly collectable.
One could see almost at once at the local auctions, fairs etc that there were items which were totally unascribed and the interest was minimal as were the prices. The London spoons fetched good money in good condition and indeed for 18th century tablespoons the prices are very little different twenty years later. I soon realised the key was knowledge, since there seemed to be almost nobody collecting in this area and one could do very well.
Whilst perfection is always the ideal it has mattered less to me than many other collectors. What is important in my collecting is to have representative examples, and in very rare areas it may simply not be possible to get very good let alone outstanding items. Some examples have quite serious defects but when it might be one of only a handful known this is acceptable in my case.
The only doubts have been to avoid commemoratives totally, to limit 19th century to very specific areas i.e. Scottish or Irish Provincial and to avoid 20th century unless it is very special or unusual. Obviously this excludes a few examples of late copies which are to show how styles were made much later for various reasons.
Being in London meant I could visit sales, dealers, museums etc, and Sue agreed that as I had all the inconvenience of earning the extra she was quite happy for it to go on the collection. Over the period 1980 to 1986 when I retired from Treasury something like £6-8000 extra money was available and without that exceptional situation the collection would never have become as significant as it has.
Another factor was the Russell fiasco and the hiatus this produced in spoon collecting. Many people became so paranoid that they simply stopped buying and prices were totally dead for years, but I was prepared to back my judgement and went on buying normally, so many bargains were to be had throughout the 1980’s.
Even today the number of collectors compared to other fields is very small and the really rare examples are still very much lower in price than their counterparts in other collecting fields. Also it is very difficult to know the true situation since the need for security today makes collectors secretive and suspicious. Nevertheless over my main time building the collection it has been a neglected area and although more literature is appearing there are many fruitful areas of research for those interested in that area of the subject.
There are a number of misconceptions in the antiques field which persist even today with the plethora of books and media interest, and that is that things will be correctly identified no matter what and the so called experts know everything. The fact is that in very narrow collecting fields of which spoons are one the serious collector always has the edge. Their knowledge is significantly greater than dealers and auction rooms. It should always be borne in mind that they are in business and must earn a living. Thus they are subject to the pressures of cash flow, time, excessive work, tiredness etc. and they make mistakes, or they have no time for thorough checks. This is particularly true in the provinces where the trade must cover many areas of antiques and their knowledge is limited. The greatest mistakes are at auctions principally in the provinces but not exclusively and it occurs both ways, i.e. some horrendously obvious fakes appear without query. It is a fact that the very experienced collector can usually acquire a collection above the normal level of their resources if they really research their field and are patient and thorough.
Some of the literature is very good on basic information such as Grimwade and Jackson on makers, Kent’s books on London and West Country are excellent as are the Museum catalogues. Ellis is now wildly out of date and Howe has an increasing number of general difficulties.
Because there are no standard terms applicable it has been necessary for technical reasons to use a standard format for description under each individual examples the are
(a) The bowl The part for lifting
(b) The Drop The Distinctive join between the stem and the Bowl at the back
(c) The Shoulder The Area close to the Bowl on the stem particularly on Fiddle Pattern
(d) The Stem The narrow section
(e) The Tail The end section usually wider
(f) The Lip The end of the tail forming a distinct lip formation
Obviously all collectors have their views on display, records and general management of their collection. Personally I am not keen on cabinets, drawers, safes etc. and the collection is therefore displayed in its own secure vault. It is panelled on a frame which can be drilled and each example held by a builders horseshoe with an identification card.
In addition there is the full written database for each example and a separate card index of a very brief description which has a current value updated annually to aid insurance. Most of the information has now be transferred to the computer and is backed up with disc held remotely.
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