An unusal Kate Allen silver and enamel spoon for William Hutton & Sons

Price: Reserved

For sale is this very unusal spoon by Kate Allen for William Hutton & Sons set with the coat of arms of Kingston upon Thames. The spoon handle formed of blue, green enamel within an art nouveau inspired silver design.  It is marked for London 1903/4.

The Kingston upon Thames coat of arms of three fishes can still be found all over the borough.  It is either with K (Kingston)  or R (Regis) as for this spoon.  The shield showing three salmon on a blue background is the ancient coat of arms of the former Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, recorded in 1572 and 1623.  The three salmon represent three fisheries which are mentioned in Domesday Book.  For more information on this see link.

Quite why Hutton’s produced this spoon is unclear.  Since this spoon is the only one known it was not a mass produced commemorative piece.  More likey it was a one off request and perhaps related to the openning of Kingston Museum in 1904.

Similar designs feature in Simon Moore’s recent book covering arts and crafts spoons, “Artist spoons  and related table cutlery”.  Kate Allen’s work can be found on pages 197-201.  Kate Allen was Hutton’s other London studio art nouveau designer alongside Kate Harris. Allen’s work is widely reproduced in the Studio Journals of the period.

The spoon is in excellent condition with original enamels in very good condition.  The spoon is a very good gauge of silver and is weighty in the hand.

Maker:  William Hutton & Sons

Designer:  Kate Allen

Date: 1903

Marks: WHSs Ltd, London, “h”

Material: Sterling silver, enamel

Condition: Excellent. Original enamel.

Size: 16 cm long

Weight: 50 grams, 1.8 oz