Tea spoon

c. 1845

Maker

John F. Robinson (1812-1867)

Measurements

5-3/4 in x 1-1/8 in x 3/4 in

Materials

Silver

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1959.4105

Inscription

"MCW" is engraved on the front of the handle; "J.F.ROBINSON" in relief within a rectangle is stamped into the underside of the handle.

Condition Notes

The surface of the spoon has deep black oxidation or other surface discoloration.  The handle has a diagonal bend in it.  The handle shaft is slightly bent to one side.  The handle shaft also has a few nicks in it.

Provenance

Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp.  The engraved initials indicate that the spoon was originally made for Mary Corbit Wilson (1811-1880) before her marriage to Daniel Corbit in 1847.

Comments

The teaspoon has a pointed oval bowl and fiddleback handle that turns upward at the tip.  It is marked J F Robinson, likely silversmith John, but he had a brother Jacob F. Robinson (1819-1867), who also may have been a silversmith.  Recent research shies away from Jacob as a silversmith.  See Donald F. Fennimore, Delaware Silver:  the Col. Kenneth P. & Regina I. Brown Collection (Dover, Del.:  Biggs Museum of American Art, 2008), p. 254.  John Robinson worked from 1837 to 1857, when he sold his tools, stock, and shop to his sister.

The engraved initials, "MCW", represent those of Mary Corbit Wilson (1811-1880) before her 1847 marriage to Daniel Corbit.  The spoon must have descended in a branch of the family other than through Mary Cowgil Corbit Warner, who owned four other examples in this same set (accession no. 1978.49).  This single tea spoon does not bear the subsequent engraving put on by Mary Wilson Corbit's daughter Mary Cowgill Corbit Warner.