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It seems that if this is indeed from one of the William Cario's, it would be quite rare. I found online, a lot of info concerning William Cario, but not really any references on the marks.
Is this William Cario and if it is, is it the father or son?
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To whatever extent it may effect the identification of the maker of this spoon, I did not pay enough attention to the "script" initials on the front of the handle of this spoon.
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Hi,
The spoon's handle style is generally considered to date c.1790-c.1800. I believe of all the WC possibilities, William Cleveland (1770-1837) of Norwich Connecticut is the most probable match. His mark illustrated in Ensko.
silverly wrote:To whatever extent it may effect the identification of the maker of this spoon, I did not pay enough attention to the "script" initials on the front of the handle of this spoon.
The initials are HW. Do you have any suggestions? I am getting all different ideas as to who might have done this spoon. One, is that it might be as late as early 1800's. I have to say that I believe the spoon is earlier than this.
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I'd stick with William Cleveland (1770-1837) of Norwich Connecticut. If you live in a town or city with a library of any size, they may have an Ensko's that you could look at in their reference books, or the book may just be a good investment. I think the style of spoon along with that style of initials fit fine with the information Tom has given. It might have been done early in his career, so 1790's sounds good to me.
Sometimes with names, dates or especially provenance, you can figure out intitials like yours, but with just the bare initials, I don't think anybody can.
On the other hand, if they fit family names, some would say you've got an heirloom.
I know people that buy spoons for their initials to give as gifts to people with the matching initials, or at least they used to when they were much less expensive than they can be at times now.
I looked at some William Cleveland marks and it is sort off close but still a little too different. I am not ruling it out totally but I do not think this spoon was made by him. This spoon seems older to me, almost like some of the ratail spoons I have had, especially in the area where the handle meets the bowl. It has noticeable tool marks from shaping which is a little more crude compared to later spoons. I did see a similar spoon on eBay with the exact mark as this spoon and a claim to be from William Cleveland but I think they are wrong. I also saw a mark for William Cowell of Boston and it is definately not from him. I saw a couple of marks from the younger William Cario (1735-1809) and they were both marked, (W. Cario). What I have not seen are examples of William Cario Sr. (1714-1771).
These are just my thoughts.
Thank you all for your help!
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