Silver Puritan Spoon, London 1664 Steven Venables

This is a lovely Restoration period silver puritan spoon which is slightly smaller in size than standard examples and so presumably was originally bought for a lady or child.

The spoon portrays all the facets one would expect from a puritan spoon of this period: plank-like stem, deep fig-shaped bowl and hallmarks spread between bowl, lower stem and upper stem. An original dot-pricked "H" is located towards the reverse terminal. 

The condition of the spoon is excellent with a good, unworn bowl and lovely antique patina. The hallmarks are fabulous with each one being very clearly impressed and including the SV makers mark for the specialist spoonmaker Steven Venables, plus a pleasingly clear date letter for 1664 (the position of the date letters on puritan spoons often made them vulnerable to over-polishing and wear). A great example of an early Charles II period puritan spoon which just pre-dates the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London of 1666.