A collection of early West Country spoons is to be sold by Chilcotts in Honiton on December 4.
The Charles C Brian collection was amassed over many years, combining a love of local history with an interest in early silver.
Silver with Plymouth town marks was an area of particular focus. Demand for silver grew in the port city in line with its growing prosperity during the Tudor and Stuart periods. However, once the regional assay office opened in Exeter in 1701, most Plymouth silversmiths, along with makers from other local centres such as Barnstaple and Taunton, registered their marks there.
Other notable examples are a James I lion sejant made c.1610 by William Bartlett of Exeter (estimate £1500-2000) and a ‘Puritan’ spoon dating from the civil war period with marks indicating it was previously part of the Marquess of Breadalbane collection of spoons (estimate £800-1200).
The collection of around 40 lots moves through the Queen Anne and William and Mary reigns into the start of the Georgian period with trefid, dognose and early Hanoverian pattern examples. Estimates for these range from £50-500.
