Dessert spoon (one of a pair)

1808-1822

Measurements

7-1/2 in x 1-1/2 in x 1/2 in

Materials

Silver

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of Mrs. D. Meredith Reese

Accession Number

1978.48

Inscription

“DAW” / 1806 / MWC / 1847 / MCC / 1876" is engraved on the front of the handle; “COIN” is stamped into the back of the handle near the bowl.

Provenance

The pair of spoons descended from David Wilson Jr. and Ann Jefferis Wilson, who married in 1808, to their daughter Mary Corbit Wilson, who married Daniel Corbit in 1847, to their daughter Mary Cowgill Corbit, who married Edward Tatnall Warner in 1876.  Having no surviving children, Mary Warner likely gave the spoons to Ann Louise Corbit, the donor, who was her niece.

Comments

The pair of dessert (or table) spoons has a pointed oval bowl and fiddleback handle that gently curves downward.  The engraved initials and dates were added at three separate times.  “DAW” is the earliest campaign, set in the conventional location on the handle.  “MWC” and “MCC” appear to be in the same hand and, representing the next two generations of ownership, must have been added by Mary Cowgill Corbit before her marriage to Edward Tatnall Warner in 1876.  After her marriage, she had the three wedding dates added, although the 1806 date should be 1808.

The die used to strike "COIN", indicating the 90% purity of the silver, appears to be the same die as on a set of four teaspoons with similar provenance (accession no. 1978.50).  The presumed date range for each spoon (1810s for this spoon and mid 1840s for 1978.50) creates some uncertainties.  For example, silver scholar Martha Gandy Fales says that "COIN" marks were generally not used before 1830 (see Early American Silver, rev. and enl. ed. [Excalibur, 1970], p. 248).

These spoons are nearly identical to a set of four marked by Wilmington, Delaware, silversmith Henry Pepper (accession no. 1978.47).  They have the same provenance.