A rare pair of Henry VII silver Apostle Spoons

A rare pair of Henry VII silver Apostle Spoons, St. Simon Zelotes and possibly St. Phillip,
maker's mark of a device known as a Gothic L, London 1490,
fig-shaped bowls, tapering faceted stems, with gilded Apostle finials, one very worn, the nimbi with engraved ray decoration, the reverse of the bowls with an old collection label, lengths 18.2cm and 18cm, approx. weight 2.9oz. (2)

Provenance:
A Private Collection

These spoons are from a larger set, where six are known to exist.
One from the set was in the Benson Collection and is written up and illustrated in Constable, D., The Benson Collection of Early Silver Spoons, Constables Publishing, 2002, entry number 26, pages 79-81. It is also illustrated in his book on Silver Spoons of Britain 1200-1700, Volume One, entry number 29, pages 226-229.

Another spoon from the set (St. Andrew), is illustrated and written up in How, G., and How, J., English and Scottish Silver Spoons, 1953, Volume Two, Chapter III, Section II, Plate 2, pages 48/49.
How writes about this spoon and the others in the set as 'the earliest recorded Apostle Spoons bearing full London hallmarks'.

The St. Simon Zelotes was probably sold at Christie's, London 5 June 1928, lot 94. It was then exhibited by Asprey at the Antiques Dealer's Fair, London 1947.