Arts & Crafts Silver Seal Top Spoon by the Guild of Handicrafts - London 1927

This is beautiful handmade silver spoon, made in the traditional Arts & Crafts style, but also with a nod towards a more 16th or 17th century style. Fully U.K. hallmarked for London 1927, with the makers mark for the famous Guild of Handicraft. The spoon has a large fig shaped bowl, and displays the usual hammer or planishing marks left over by the silversmith to demonstrate how it was formed. The tapering stem ends in a flattened seal top, much like those seen hundreds of years ago. The spoon would appear to be made from a single piece of silver, with no visible seams or joins. At the time this was made, the Guild had long since moved from London to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, and its original founder, C.R. Ashbee, had departed in 1907 after the business was liquidated. A former worker, George Hart, took over the running of the workshop in 1912, and it’s possible that this spoon was made by his hand. The Guild of Handicraft continues to be operated by the Hart family today. The spoon is not one of the more commonly seen designs from the Guild, and it’s unclear who is responsible for the original design. Despite the uncertainty of its origins, it’s a lovely piece of hand wrought silver.