Teaspoons (set of four)

c. 1845

Measurements

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

Materials

Silver

Credit Line

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

Accession Number

1978.50

Inscription

"1847 / MCW / 1876 / MCC" is engraved on the front of the handle; "COIN" is stamped into the back of the handle near the bowl.

Provenance

The set of spoons descended from Mrs. Daniel (Mary Corbit Wilson) Corbit to her daughter, Mrs. Edward Tatnall (Mary Cowgill Corbit) Warner.  Having no surviving children, Mary Warner likely gave the spoons to Ann Louise Corbit, the donor, who was her niece.

Comments

The teaspoons have pointed oval bowls and fiddleback handles that turn upward at the tip.  Of the engraved initials, "MCW" represents the first engraving campaign, almost certainly predating Mary Wilson's 1847 marriage to Daniel Corbit, when her initials changed.  Her daughter Mary added her own initials, MCC, again before her marriage in 1876.  Subsequently, she added the marriage dates to both sets of initials. 

The spoons are marked "COIN" indicating that the silver content is 90%.  The same die appears to have been used on a pair of tablespoons with a similar provenance, also with no maker's mark (accession no. 1978.48).

For another nearly identical set of four teaspoons, marked by J F Robinson of Wilmington, Delaware, and bearing the same engraving and provenance, see accession no. 1978.50.