This rare Charles I spoon topped the latest sale of Scottish silver held by Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull, selling for £22,000.
While such early spoons emerge at auction
fairly regularly, what made this example so special was the
disc-end pattern which has hardly been seen in the salerooms in the
last 20 years.
The form was unique to Scotland in the first
half of the 17th century, although a very small group of 'Death
Head' spoons from York are similar. Most are now in museums but
this 7in (18.5cm) long spoon had never left the family of the
original owner and had descended directly to the vendor.
Marked PN for Peter Neilson,
Edinburgh (see image below), it was dated to the mid-1600s (the
engraved 1578 date on the disc terminal was thought to be a later
addition).
It is also rare to see an early piece of
Scottish silver engraved with the initials of the original owner,
Bessy Boyd who was the daughter of Archbishop James Boyd of
Glasgow.
Given an estimate of £15,000-25,000 for the
sale on August 14, it sold to a private buyer.
The buyer's premium was 25/20%.
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