The fig-shaped bowl on this caddy spoon is well suited to its job. Wide and shallow, it scoops tea leaves without crushing or compacting them the way a deeper, narrower bowl might, a small bit of practical design consideration on an otherwise fairly plain everyday object. The handle follows the fiddle and thread pattern, a restrained style built from a simple thread line running along a fiddle-shaped outline, popular precisely because it worked for almost any occasion without looking either too plain or too showy.
Made by Joseph Willmore and fully hallmarked for Birmingham in 1821, the piece sits early in the wider Birmingham silver trade Willmore worked within, a maker whose output ranged from small everyday items like this to more substantial silverware over his career.
Condition notes
Excellent antique condition. Scuffing appropriate to age and use; the bowl is very lightly uneven on one side.
