Table spoon (one of a set of four)

1815-1830

Maker

Henry J. Pepper (1789-1853)

Measurements

8-5/8 in x 2 in x 1-1/8 in

Materials

Silver

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation

Accession Number

1986.5

Inscription

"SCC" in script is engraved on the front of the handle across the middle.  "H. J. PEPPER" in relief within a rectangle is stamped into the underside of the handles.

Condition Notes

The bowl tips of 1986.5.1 and 1986.5.2 have some losses.  The raised decoration on the handles as well as the engraving exhibits wear.

Provenance

The table spoons descended in the William Corbit family through Sara Corbit Levis to Mary Corbit Crowe to her niece Sara Corbit Reese Pryor, from whom the set was acquired in trade.

Comments

The "SCC" intitials engraved into the handles of these four table tablespoons may be those of Sarah Clark Corbit (1810-1871), a daughter of Pennell and Mary Clark Corbit.  In 1833 Sarah married Anthony Madison Higgins, at which time her initials changed.  Alternatively, the initials may be those of an extended family member (see accession no. 1986.8 for a problematic example of spoons with "SCC" with the same provenance as these).

The spoons display a well-articulated sheaf of wheat with a sickle in shallow relief at the tip of the fiddleback-shaped handle.  This motif expressed the bounty of harvest.  Although rare, silver spoons with wheaf-of-wheat decoration on the handles were made in urban communities throughout the Eastern United States.