John Oddy - Executive Director of Royal Oak and James Rothwell - National Trust Curator. © The National Trust
A valuable 14” silver basting spoon bearing the arms of the Hervey family of Ickworth House, Suffolk, is on its way back across the Atlantic.
Silver expert and National Trust Curator James Rothwell so impressed a pair of San Franciscan antique shop owners on his lecture tour earlier this year that they decided to donate the spoon, of Spanish origin, to Ickworth House.
Neil Robinson, House Manager at Ickworth explained: “It is thought that the spoon came into the Hervey family by way of George William Hervey, the 2nd Earl of Bristol who was Ambassador to Madrid between 1758 and 1761. It’s now set to return to Ickworth House, the former home of the Hervey family.”
The spoon will be added to the existing Bristol silver collection, which is highly regarded for its quality and quantity. Visitors will be able to see it on display in the Museum Room next year.
