SPOON

An incomplete and bent, probably tinned copper alloy (latten) spoon, of 16th or 17th century date. It is missing part of the stem and the knop, and part of the fig-shaped bowl is folded inwards. No maker's mark is visible. The stem extends in a moulded V-shaped onto the top of the reverse of the bowl.
The stem, which is now curving (bent) in profile, measures 77.5mm in length, widening from the old break, oval in cross-section, where it measures 4.1x3.7mm to 7.9x6.5mm where it joins the bowl. At this point the stem has become rather more lozenge-shaped in cross-section, with curving edges. The bowl measures 68.6mm in length and 46.8mm in present width. Originally, the width would have been c. 50mm. The spoon measures 139.0mm in length and weighs 32.44g.
Spoons of this type are also known in copper alloy, silver and pewter. The metal of this example is hard and produces a high, tinny noise if flicked with a fingernail, suggesting it is copper alloy, perhaps with a high tin content. Specific material analysis has not been carried out and is not available to the current recorder.

Latten spoon makers and their marks remain enigmatic. Spoons were tinned to prevent the bronze in the copper alloy tainting the food.
Egan notes that the Pewterers Guild had since at least the 1560's actively worked against manufacture of spoons in copper alloy (2005, p.117), but by the late 17th century this monopoly may have been seriously eroded, as copper alloy spoons have been excavated in London within late 17th century contexts (ibid.).