POST MEDIEVAL SPOON

1550

A cast copper alloy post medieval seal knop spoon handle, dating from the late sixteenth or seventeenth century (AD 1550 - 1700). The handle has a flat and circular knop at the apex, beneath which is a globular swelling with raised collar swelling beneath. The stem of the handle is roughly sub-rectangular in cross section. It is broken about 52.33mm below the apex. There are many similar examples on the PAS Database. 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 however on this example there seems to be no engraving however, just some corrosion of the metal. Moore (ibid) also highlights the fact that such spoon knops were cast separately and then soldered to the handle; this perhaps explains the nature of this fragmentary survival.