TR Maker

[silverly]

About 4 1/4” long. Not sure about the maker’s initials. Any help at all will be very much appreciated.

[silverly]

Giving this a bump just to see if there are any new thoughts on this spoon.

[silverly]

Until today I thought this mark looked like TR. Now it looks like IR for whatever difference that might make to anyone.

[Aguest]

::::: The hallmark is very similar to John Reynolds (listed as working beginning in 1790 for services as a silversmith & jewelry & watchmaker in Hagerstown, Maryland) but I understand why you would not want to attribute it based on the form, which is far more consistent with circa 1730 than circa 1790. :::::::

:::: That being said, I remember reading the Myer Myers book and it said that in the 1790s certain customers in Connecticut requested silver items that were "made in the older style" so is it possible that a customer ordered this spoon to be "made in the older style" or perhaps the customer was trying to replace a spoon that was made in the 1730s that had worn out and the customer requested an accurate replica of the "older style" spoon???? :::::::::

[silverly]

::::: The hallmark is very similar to John Reynolds

Thank you Aquest. A possible Reynolds' mark on Winterthur looks like the cartouche could have had a scalloped edge, but I can definitly see the similarity. I'm not counting anything out at this point.

The mark on my spoon looks like the die is well worn or damaged or was poorly made, just my assessment.

[Aguest]

:::: The number of spoons I've seen from 1790 that are 4 to 5 inches in length is quite high, but now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen a spoon from 1730 that is 4 to 5 inches in length, the overall length is something that makes me think about the 1790s rather than the 1730s, but maybe an expert can comment on the frequency of small spoons in the 1730s vs. small spoons in the 1790s. ::::::

[silverly]

:::: The number of spoons I've seen from 1790 that are 4 to 5 inches in length is quite high, but now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen a spoon from 1730 that is 4 to 5 inches in length, the overall length is something that makes me think about the 1790s rather than the 1730s

I don’t have that answer here, but I am certain that six eighteenth century decades are a factor in the equation.

Once again all possibilities are still in play.

[Aguest]

:::: I have no conclusion either and consider all possibilities in play as well :::::