Spoony...

For some odd reason I have received a few spoons for Christmas this year...

A friend gave me this lovely little souvenir spoon she found among the cutlery drawer when clearing out her Gran's things. It is Sterling Silver with clear makers marks: J.C. & S for John Cook and Sons of Birmingham, followed by the Birmingham mark and date stamp of 1925. J.C. & Sons were makers of small silver items such as book marks, button hooks, vespa boxes and the like. When you google their items they often come up with a Scottish theme - thistles, Celtic crosses, etc. I assume they would make many of these items for the tourist market.

It seems a high quality work - .925 silver with a top finial in an amethyst gemstone cut into the shape of a Scotch thistle. The engraved 'Edinburgh' on the bowl was probably done at the jewellers, but it may have been supplied that way.

I used Lana Bristol Smooth paper 250gsm with Staedtler HB, 2B and F along with a Mitsubishi 2H and 4H. Color was placed with Staedtler Karat color pencils slightly washed then worked over with dry color and graphite. The engraving was done using a crotchet needle as an engraving tool... and opps, I didn't really do a great job spelling out Edinburgh