This pair of Irish silver trefid spoons sold for £25,000 at hammer.
A pair of Charles II Irish silver trefid spoons sold today for a hammer price of £25,000 at Cheffins, the Cambridge auctioneers. They had been estimated at £800-1,200. This is thought to be a world record price.
Made by Edward Swann, Dublin 1679 the marks on the spoons are very clear. The back of the tapering flat stems is inscribed *S*/S*M. The two spoons weigh just 4.1 ounces.
A trefid spoon is characterised by a stem that widens at the top and has two notches to form a three lobed shape, suggestive of a clef hind’s foot. It is the earliest English flatware pattern in which the stems of both the spoon and the fork were made to match.
This Cork silver basting spoon sold for $6,000 at Waddingtons.
At Waddingtons in Toronto last night a George II Irish silver Hanoverian pattern large basting spoon, made in Cork in 1740 probably by Anthony Semirot whose work is very rare, sold for $6,000 dollars over an estimate of $600-800.