Paul Revere Jr. Silver Tablespoon, ca. 1785
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GUEST:
I have brought a serving spoon that I believe was made by Paul Revere. My husband bought it seven, eight years ago, uh, in Baltimore.
APPRAISER:
Can you tell me how much your husband paid for the spoon?
GUEST:
I think he said $600.
APPRAISER:
The spoon is hand-wrought with a tapered handle. It's constructed from coin silver. It is a large spoon, a tablespoon.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And what you mentioned about Revere, if we turn it over, you'll see the mark reading "Revere."
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And that mark is indeed for Paul Revere, Jr., who was born in 1734 in Boston, Massachusetts. He apprenticed as a smith under his father. He was a silversmith leading up to the Revolutionary War. Yeah. And is most iconically known for his great midnight ride in April of 1775 when he was warning the colonial militia of the impending British forces arriving at Lexington and Concord. He resumed his work in silver after the war, which I believe stylistically matches when this piece would have been made.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Likely circa 1780 to 1790, somewhere in there. He continued acting as a smith until his death in 1818. And if we flip it back around here, you'll make note of a monogram. It's quite common that that monogram can likely be associated with a direct owner, which could potentially increase the value of the spoon. Mr. Revere, after his death, his firm would continue on for some time.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
However, this one is very apparently done by his hand during his lifetime...
GUEST:
Mmm.
APPRAISER:
...which is what makes it special. The construction is what we would expect to see from one of his spoons. They are quite scarce. They do exist, but I would say numbering, in total known examples, low hundreds.
GUEST:
Great.
APPRAISER:
The size is exceptional. Typically, we'll see smaller teaspoons.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Perhaps seven, seven-and-a-half inches. This one has got to be close to nine inches, and you can really see that large bowl there on the end, indicative of a proper tablespoon, which further adds to the value. This spoon would likely garner $8,000 to $10,000...
GUEST:
Whoa.
APPRAISER:
...should it cross the auction block.
GUEST:
That's amazing. A spoon. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
A spoon.
GUEST:
Ah, well, this is terrific, thank you.
APPRAISER:
If it were a teaspoon, you'd likely be closer to probably the $6,000 to $8,000 range.
GUEST:
Oh, fantastic.
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