These are among at least five trifid-handled spoons made by Coney for the Shrimpton family; all bear foliated bowl and scrolled handle decoration. Kathryn C. Buhler believed that the presence of an obliterated heart-shaped mark on a Coney spoon in the Yale collection pointed to the use of an English model cast by Coney. Certainly many spoons in this style were brought to this country through trade or immigration, whereas others were made here using English or colonial-made swages. An example of imported swages may be inferred from the “plaine and flower’d Spoon Swages” noted in the 1718 shop inventory of Edward Webb; these were probably brought here by the silversmith in 1704 upon his emigration from London. Other Boston makers who produced trifid-handled spoons with similar bowls include Jeremiah Dummer, John Edwards, and Edward Winslow.

This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.

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