A French silver Stump-Top spoon

A French silver Stump-Top spoon,

marked twice to the top of the stem with a crowned Fleur-de-lis above a device, possibly for Orleans area, probably Fourteenth Century,

elongated fig-shape bowl, the reverse with a plain rat-tail, faceted tapering stem with a Stump-top terminal, with traces of gilding, the front of the bowl with an old collection label, length 20.6cm, approx. weight 2.3oz.

Provenance:

A Private Collection.

The Benett-Stanford Collection

Illustrated and written up in How, G., and How J., English and Scottish Silver Spoons, 1953, Volume One, Chapter I, Section III, Plate 9, pages 52/53.

How writes about the spoon. 'It is reputed to have been dredged up from the River Loire near Orleans, which would be a reasonable explanation for the extensive pitting on the spoon which is otherwise in a remarkably fine state of preservation'.