Souvenir spoon: Asheville, N.C.
Wallingford, Connecticut
Patented 1893
Maker
R. Wallace & Sons (inc. 1879)
Measurements
3-7/8 in x 3/4 in x 1/2 in
Materials
Silver with a gold-washed bowl
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1130
Inscription
“Asheville N.C.” is across the top of the mountain scene in the bowl. “PAT. 1893” with “RW&S” and “STERLING” are stamped into the back of the handle.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
The spoon with a richly decorated foliate-scrolled handle has a relatively simple bowl with mountains executed in cross-hatching below “Asheville N.C.”
Railroads made Asheville easily accessible in 1880 and later. The city grew rapidly through the 1920s. Biltmore, the largest privately owned house in the US, was built for George Washington Vanderbilt II from 1889 to 1895.
The patent date suggests a reasonable time for when the spoon was issued for sale. Another similar "Asheville" spoon is accession no. 1971.1078.
