The Auchentorlie Spoon, an extremely rare and important mid 17th century Scottish silver slip-top

The Auchentorlie Spoon, an extremely rare and important mid 17th century Scottish silver slip-top spoon by Alexander Scott, Edinburgh, deacon Andrew Burrell, the back of the bowl inscribed ‘M’ over ‘AA’ and ‘M’ over ‘MA’, 17.1cm (6.8in) long, 56g (1.8 oz). With Scott’s mark nearest to the bowl it is most probable he was the maker and that Andrew Burrell was the deacon. He was deacon for 1653-1655 and 1659-61. Scott was deacon himself from 1667 to 1669. This then covers the end of the Commonwealth and begining of Charles II’s reign. See How ‘English and Scottish Silver Spoons’ Vol. II, London 1953, p. 350/1. See also Dalgleish & Fothringham ‘Silver: Made in Scotland’, National Museum of Scotland exhibition 2008, catalogue p. 45 where the authors note: ‘There are five different patterns of spoon in Scotland before the introduction of the trefid after the Restoration: seal-top; disc-end, puritan; slip-top and box-top, there being only a single surviving example of the last two.’ Also on p. 51 where the (previously) only known example is illustrated, cat. no. 3.45, by Gilbert Kirkwood, Edinburgh 1608-10 (lent from a private collection at Mount Stuart). The ‘Bute collection’ example from Mount Stuart however is of French type with a lozenge section stem.. Provenance: The Ferguson-Buchanan Family of Auchentorlie, Nr Bowling, Dunbartonshire (they lived at Auchentorlie from the early 1800’s until the house was demolished in the 1970s); by direct descent to the present vendor. According to information supplied from the family, this spoon originally came from Auchentorlie House, Dunbartonshire. The initials on the back of the spoon would suggest that it probably entered into the family through a marriage and further research may bring to light the original owners of the spoon.

**condition report: The marks good, minor dents to the bowl, no other issues