Tea spoon (one of a set of four)

1847-1856

Maker

Samuel M. Hopper (1811-1859)

Measurements

6-1/8 in x 1-1/4 in x 3/4 in

Materials

Silver

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation

Accession Number

1986.8

Inscription

"SCC" in script is engraved into the face of the handle.  "S.M.HOPPER" in relief within a rectangle with a serrated border is stamped on the bottom, followed by "66 CHESTNUT ST". 

Provenance

The teaspoons were part of a large body of objects acquired by Winterthur in trade from Sara Corbit Reese Pryor (1932-2019), who was a direct descendant of William Corbit.  Some of the objects traded were owned by him or his children; others seem to have come from collateral descendants.  These tea spoons appear to be among the latter.

Comments

This tea spoon has a pointed oval bowl and a fiddleback handle that turns upward at the tip.  The initials SCC engraved into the handle are those of Sarah Clark Corbit (1810-1871), but she likely was not the original owner of these spoons.  She married Anthony Madison Higgins in 1833, at which time her initials changed.  Given the maker’s mark and address stamped into the spoons, they were made over ten years later (specifically, between 1847 and 1856).  Thus, these initials may have represented a collateral relation, perhaps from the Clark or Cowgill families, each of which intermarried with Corbits.

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