Souvenir spoon: Mount Vernon

Patented in 1891

Maker

Moore and Leding

Measurements

4-1/4 in x 7/8 in x 5/8 in

Materials

Silver

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.1182

Inscription

“1759 / 1799” and “Mount Vernon” is on the handle.  "STERLING" and "MOORE & LEDING—PAT MCH.31.91." [March 31, 1891] is on the back of the handle.  “Edward Bringhurst 3rd / Sept 24th 1894” is engraved on the outside bottom of the bowl.

 

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner

Comments

This spoon is one of many illustrated in Anton Hardt, Souvenir Spoons of the 90’s:  As Pictured and Described in “The Jewelers’ Circular” & The James Catalogue in 1891 (New York:  the author, 1962, p. 79.  It is the smaller version of accession no. 1971.1072, which is 6 inches long.  Tea spoons were generally larger than coffee (or demitasse) spoons.

The spoon shows Mount Vernon in the bowl.  Oval portraits of George and Martha Washington are at the top of the handle and accompanied by the dates 1759 to 1799 marking the length of their marriage.

The Mount Vernon Association, a society of women who saved and administered the mansion as a monument to Washington, were probably engaged in selection of this design and its marketing.

Edward Bringhurst III (1884-1939), who’s name is engraved on the outside bottom of the bowl along with the 1894 date, lived in the Rockwood Mansion in Wilmington and must have known Mary Corbit Warner, the donor.  However, the circumstances surrounding the engraving are not known.