Norwich Silver Trefid Spoon, 1697 Eliz. Haslewood
£2,450.00
Spoon - Trefid - Norwich 1697 by Elizabeth Haselwood - 18.7cm long; 44g - TH/4867
Norwich-made silver is very rare and this silver trefid spoon, made by the lady silversmith Elizabeth Haslewood, bears the final date letter used by the Norwich assay office in 1697.
The spoon has a very similar appearance to London-made trefid spoons of the period and has a long, plain rattail to the reverse of the bowl. The handle has the usual lobed trefid terminal with the addition of two small "ears" and dot-pricked initials "MI" to the reverse. The spoon is in very good condition with a full bowl, although the light gauge of silver used for the spoon means the bowl rim feels a little thin to the touch.
From the bowl working up along the stem, the hallmarks are: The "EH" crowned mark of Elizabeth Haslewood (or Haselwood), the two Norwich assay office marks featuring a castle over a lion and a crown over a rose and finally the date letter "K" for 1697. Although all legible, the marks become a little more worn as you move up the stem.
As the second-largest city in England during the middle-ages and up until the 17th century, the production of silver in Norwich in the late 17th century was relatively buoyant, however the passing of the Britannia Silver Act in 1697 forbade the assaying and marking of silver outside London and by the time it was permitted again in 1701 the momentum of silver production had been lost. The date letter cycle that had begun in 1565 and run spasmodically for 130 years ended in 1697 with the letter "K" as shown on this spoon. See Jacksons (Pickford edition) page 339.
According to Christopher Hartop in "East Anglian Silver 1550-1750", the three generations of the Haslewood family between about 1625 and 1740 produced some of the best provincial seventeenth century silverware. Arthur Haslewood died aged forty-six in 1684 and his widow took over the running of the family business. Elizabeth Haslewood prospered in business and even continued making silver after the 1697 Act before passing on the business to her son Arthur. She died in 1715.
