Souvenir spoon: Yale Fence
Providence, Rhode Island
c. 1888
Maker
Gorham Manufacturing Co. (1831-1986)
George H. Ford Company (retailer in New Haven, 1897-1988)
Measurements
4-3/8 in x 7/8 in x 5/8 in
Materials
Silver with a gold-washed bowl
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1120
Inscription
“1701 / YALE / FENCE / 1888” is on the bowl; CITY OF ELMS 1638” is along the handle shaft; and “MARE LIBERUM” is below a three-masted bark on the handle tip.
“THE GEORGE H. FORD CO.” and Gorham touchmarks are above “STERLING" on the back of the bowl at the attachment of the handle.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
This spoon celebrates the Yale Fence, a venerable rail fence originally built in 1833 that became a symbol of the college (founded in 1701). An image of the fence is shown in the bowl in front of a line of trees with a Yale “Old Campus” building behind them. The fence was removed in 1888 to make room for yet another new building on the Old Campus.
The city of New Haven was founded in 1638. The dates are referenced on the spoon (except 1833).
The handle tip incorporates a relief image of a three-masted bark below a portrait bust of an unidentified individual. The legend “MARE LIBERUM” (Latin for “free sea”) runs below the bark. The specific reference for this imagery and legend are not known, although the free sea quote may reference Dutch author Hugo Grotius’s Freedom of the Seas first published in 1609.
The George H. Ford Company -the jewelry business, traded from 1897-1988 and was located in George Hare Ford's building on the southeast corner of State and Chapel streets in New Haven. Another Ford Company spoon is accession no. 1971.1084.
