Tudor silver spoon to go under the hammer

A 450-year-old silver spoon made during the reign of Elizabeth I is set to be auctioned.

The Tudor relic, made in Chester, is estimated to fetch between £2,000–£3,000 when it goes under the hammer at Roseberys, London, on 30 September.

The relic is believed to be one of the earliest known surviving Chester silver spoons. The only comparably early example identified is a c.1580 spoon by William Mutton in the Grosvenor Museum in Chester, the auctioneers said.

Georgina Agnew, from Roseberys, called the spoon "a remarkable repository of Chester's history".

The spoon which dates to about 1575 was made by Chester goldsmith John Lingley I.

Lingley's surviving work includes a 1574 communion cup made for a church in North Wales, making the spoon one of the earliest documented examples of his work, the auctioneers said.

Agnew added that the spoon was "made around 450 years ago, during the reign of Elizabeth I, and research suggests that it is one of the earliest known Chester silver spoons".

"Silver from England's provincial silversmithing centres has long proven popular with collectors," she said. "But a Chester spoon of this age is exceptionally rare and an important survivor from an Elizabethan city with a rich heritage of trade and craftsmanship."

She added that the spoon has been illustrated in both Maurice H. Ridgway's Chester Silver 1837–1962 and David J.E. Constable's Silver Spoons of Britain 1200–1710.

The present owner acquired it at auction in 1991. It will be offered in Roseberys' Silver auction on 30 September as part of An Important Private Collection of Early Spoons.

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