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, the very end of which is damaged and bent. It measures 36.13mm in length and weighs 9.33g.The spoon terminal (now bent) was originally a flat circular (or perhaps oval) disc, now measuring 13.88x11.38mm. Beneath is a double collar, that directly beneath being the larger. The stem below measures 5.112x4.16mm in cross-section and terminates at the top of the baluster, 9.97x7.21mm narrowing to 4.6x4.4mm above a double collar (of similar size to the stem above). Below this is a 2.62mm 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.