POST MEDIEVAL SPOON

1550

A fragment of Post-Medieval (1550-1650) cast copper-alloy 'seal-top' knop spoon or 'Baluster seal' type spoon (Geake, H. 2001 Finds Recording Guide Version 1.1), consisting of the seal-top terminal only. It measures 31.48mm in length and weighs 8.5g.The spoon terminal is a flat circular disc 13.29x12.48mm in 'diameter'. Beneath is a double collar, that directly beneath being the largest. The stem below measures 5.42x4.40mm in cross-section and terminates at the top of the baluster, 9.47x8.54mm narrowing to 4.10mm above a double collar (of similar size).Below this is a 2.27mm diameter stub of the handle stem. This type of spoon knop was common from the mid-16th to the mid-17th century. Moore (1999, 5) attributes their contemporary popularity to the fact that the owner's and donor's initials could be pricked or engraved onto the disc. On this example there seems to be no engraving however. Moore (1999, 5) also highlights the fact that such knops were cast separately and then soldered to the handle; this perhaps explains the nature of this fragmentary survival. Similar spoon knops can be cross-referenced on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database, for example HAMP-CD58A4.