An Edward IV silver 'diamond point' spoon, maker's mark a wheatsheaf, London, circa 1470

Sotheby's, London, 1 May 2018, lot 231

G. E. P. How and J. P. How; English and Scottish Silver Spoons, Mediaeval to Late Stuart and Pre-Elizabethan Hallmarks on English Plate; London; 1952; vol. I & III

Diamond point spoons, named after the faceted shape of their finials, were popular in the 15th and 16th centuries although earlier examples do exist. Commander How suggested (op. cit. vol. I, p. 161) that the shape of the finial was based on the prick or goad spur in use at the time.

The earliest example of a diamond point with full London marks was dug up in South London and carries the hallmarks for 1493. Several examples are known with makers' marks and the early versions of the London leopard's head mark used before the introduction of a date letter system in 1478.

The maker's mark on the present spoon is the very first one recorded in the incomparable reference work on British silver, known affectionately among scholars and collectors as either "the bible" or simply "Jackson's" (Ian Pickford, editor, Jackson's Silver and Gold Marks', Woodbridge, 1989, p. 87).

For an almost identical diamond point spoon by the same maker see The Benson Collection, Christie's, London, 4 June 2013, lot 1126.