St. James The Lesser Apostle Spoon, 1572

This is a fantastic Elizabethan period silver apostle spoon. It has a lot of very positive features including it's hefty weight, fine condition, recognisable apostle and legible hallmarks.

The good weight means that the spoon has an immediate feeling of quality when held in the hand. The condition is fantastic with the full size, deep fig-shaped bowl being a particularly pleasing aspect. The apostle lacks a little definition, but the pierced nimbus is an unusual addition - this is slightly bent in. The apostle can be identified as St James the Lesser from the fuller's bat emblem that he holds in his right hand.  

The bowl has a clear leopard's head mark and the stem marks show an excellent lion passant and date letter. The makers mark is a little less distinct but can be determined under a loupe. The mark is the one shown as the sixth from bottom entry on page 98 of Jacksons (Pickford edition) and appears to be an “F” with a bird’s claw resembling a “J”. The bird (jackdaw) claw mark has been attributed by Piers Percival as the mark of Francis Jackson a specialist spoon-maker between 1556 and 1574. The mark is therefore a clever use of his initials combined with a rebus for his surname.

This is an all-round example of a 16th century apostle spoon. A highly recommended piece!