Silver Spoon Antiques

From L to R - Coffee Spoons, Teaspoons, Dessert Spoons, Table Spoons (with a Basting Spoon above) Apparently this is a very popular question on google! Now most people are probably looking for a cooking measurement (its volume in cooking is 4.93ml btw), but it is also a question that is often raised in describing a spoon...what is a teaspoon? A dessert spoon? A coffee spoon? A table spoon? The answer to this is often different at different points of history, but below is a rough guide for the Georgian and Victorian periods. Coffee Spoon These are a more modern spoon, mainly dating from 1890 onwards. They are smaller than teaspoons, usually between 9cm (3.5in) and 11cm (4.3in). Teaspoon  These come in a range of sizes...the smallest around 12cm (4.7in) long and the longest approximately 14cm (5.5in). Dessert Spoon Our modern day Tablespoons are really more traditional dessert spoon size. They range in size from around 17cm (6.7in) to 18...

A nice silver spoon turned up recently on a trip to regional NSW.  The dealer wasn't sure if it was silver, indeed the hallmarks were so small, I couldn't decipher them either.  But what did stand out was the impressive Celtic design to the spoon and the marks I could read that said 'AR' and 'IONA'.  I remembered reading a little somewhere about a silversmith, Alexander Richie, working on the Scottish island.  So I purchased the spoon (along with a few other pieces of silver) for a good price. A Jam Spoon by Alexander Richie of Iona, Scotland It turned out this spoon was indeed silver and had been hallmarked in Glasgow in 1931. Hallmarks and Engraving of Richie Spoon Alexander Richie, along with his wife, Euphemia, began making silverware and jewellery (as well as wood and other metal work) at the end of the nineteenth century.  He sent items from Iona to both Glasgow and Chester to be hallmarked.  Most of his pieces have the Celtic or Viking i...