Lot 366
Old Aberdeen - a rare Scottish provincial soup ladle
Auction: 17 August 2009 at 15:00 BST
Description
Robert Wildgoose, marked RW, ABD, of Old English pattern with circular bowl, the terminal engraved with a script initial L
Dimensions
39cm long, 5.5oz
Footnote
Notes: While Robert Wildgoose is a maker known to have been based in Old Aberdeen, very little is known about him. To date this is the only item of silver known to bear a mark for this maker, and while not the earliest of the Old Aberdeen makers his work must be considered among the rarest.
Dr. James in 'Aberdeen Goldsmiths 1450 -1850' lists relatively little detail on this maker, except to confirm that he is known from the 'Valuation Roll of Old Aberdeen' in 1796 as registered as a goldsmith and paying rent for three people (presumably his family home) of 15 shillings. His name appears briefly in other city records as witness to the baptism of his nephew (son of James Wildgoose, silversmith) and in return when his brother is witness at the baptism of his own son.
All these records and mentions spread a thirty year period between 1769 - 1796, when this ladle would have been made.