Souvenir spoon: Mount Vernon
Washington, D.C.
Patented in 1891
Maker
Moore and Leding
Measurements
6 in x 1-1/4 in x 3/4 in
Materials
Silver
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1072
Inscription
“MOUNT VERNON” and “1759- / -1799” are on the handle. “STERLING / MOORE & LEDING” and “PAT. MCH . 31.91.” are on the back of the handle.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
One of many different spoon designs celebrating Mount Vernon offered to an eager buying public, the spoon shows the mansion inside the bowl and oval portraits of George and Martha Washington at the top of the handle. The dates 1759 to 1799 accompany the portraits are mark 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 subsequent marketing.
This spoon is illustrated and discussed in Souvenir Spoons of America (1891), p. 79. A smaller (4-1/4 inch) version of this same spoon is accession no. 1971.1182. Tea spoons were generally larger than coffee (or demitasse) spoons.
