Souvenir spoon: whaling ship
Providence, Rhode Island
c. 1891
Maker
Gorham Manufacturing Co. (1831-1986)
Wood, Bicknall & Potter (agent)
Measurements
5-3/8 in x 1 in x 5/8 in
Materials
Silver
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1071
Inscription
“STERLING” and Gorham touchmarks are stamped into the back of the handle.
“M.C.W.” is engraved into the back of the bowl.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
The tip of the spoon handle supports a detailed sculpture of a three-masted barque. A rope coils down the plain handle to the bowl, which displays roiled water and the head and tail of a whale. The handle terminates in a harpoon tip, indicating that the ship is a whaler.
This spoon is discussed in Souvenir Spoons of America (1891), p. 35. The text names Wood, Bicknel & Potter of 287 Westminster St, Providence, as “sole agents for this unique spoon.”
The engraved initials are those of Mary Corbit Warner.
Bibliography
Accumulation & Display: Mass Marketing Household Goods in America, 1880-1920 (The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1986), no. 168, pp. 132-133.
