Object Description
An extremely rare Mary Tudor apostle spoon (St James The Greater) made in London in 1556 by Francis Jackson (makers mark a birds claw).
The spoon was made by the specialist spoon maker Francis Jackson (fl 1556-1574) to whom the birds claw mark has now been firmly attributed by Piers Percival. (see notes).
The spoon is of a very good gauge and of good colour and condition and the finial of St James the Greater ( missing his staff ) still retains much of his original gilding.
His nimbus is in the form of the holy dove. The original owners initials ( J E) are positioned on the back just below the apostle.
The representation of St James is almost identical to that seen on the St James The Greater finial of the 1554 example from the famous Swaythling set of twelve apostle spoons (see last picture), with the exception of the nimbus which is pierced on that spoon.
Spoons or any articles of pre Elizabethan date silver(except coins) are extremely rare and at this time (2023)this spoon and the master spoon of the year earlier that we also have for sale are probably the only two pieces that are available on the world market from this turbulent period of British history.
Weight, 59.4 grams ( just shy of 2 troy oz)