Antique c1610 STERLING Silver John QUICK Quycke Barnstaple Female KNOP Spoon

Rare Early 17th century gilt sterling silver spoon, Barnstaple, c.1610. Attributed to the greatest* English spoon maker of all time John Quick / Quycke**.  The interior of the oval bowl engraved with stylized fruit, foliage, and strapwork on a hatch ground, the reverse pricked MP S below a short applied rat tail, the curved faceted and knopped stem rising from a grotesque lion mask to a leaf-wrapped terminal sprouting female head. L. 6 1/2 in., bowl is 1 7/8 in. 45 gr. Purchased Sotheby's 9-Jun-94 lot 180 receipt and catalog available.Sotheby's note from 9-Jun-94 lot 179& 180 description: The spoon stems of which appear to be of previously unrecorded patterns, bear a close affinity with the so-called "Aphrodite" spoons which are generally associated with the goldsmith John Quick of Barnstaple. Several examples of these spoons have been noted and are discussed by G.E.P. and J P How, English and Scottish Silver Spoons, London 1953, vol.II, ch.III, section V, pp 201-215; and more rec