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A Victorian single ended private die marrowscoop (for the Marrow Bone Club of Edinburgh) made in Edinburgh in 1852 by James MacKay and engraved with the motto of the Dingwall Fordyce family and the name George Dingwall Fordyce (1809-1875). It is in a later fitted case by Asprey of London.

Price: £1450.00

The Marrow Bone Club in Edinburgh appears to have met at Fleshmarket Close from the mid 1830s (a marrow scoop of this form is recorded engraved with the date 1835). The high calibre of the scoops produced, combined with their rarity, suggests that the Club had a small and elite membership and many of the names recorded on the scoops were legal figures (including a number of Lords of Session).

The family of Dingwall Fordyce of Culsh and Brucklay, Aberdeenshire, owes its origin to an intermarriage between two old families, the Dingwalls of Brucklay and the Fordyces of Culsh, in 1744. George Dingwall Fordyce (1809-1875) married Sophia Tom, whose sister was already married to Dingwall Fordyce's elder brother, in 1836 and followed a legal career. He entered the Bar in 1837 and in 1851 he was made advocate depute. This office may be what enabled Dingwall Fordyce to join the Marrow Bone Club. His obituary in the Dundee Courier also records that he was also Sherriff of Sutherland and Caithness in 1857 and subsequently of Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland until early 1875.

A George I marrowscoop made in London in 1720 (Britannia standard) probably by Thomas Mann .
Price: £475.00

A marrow scoop, by John Langlands I of Newcastle struck with indented lion passant (used from 1759-1778), circa 1765 crested for Peers and initialled {H} .
Price: £425.00

The indented lion passant was used in London between 1739 and 1755 but it is also found on silver assayed in Newcastle between 1759 and 1778. Newcastle silver of the period where the indented lion was used is also found with the more conventional square lion. This combined with the much lower volume produced by this assay office than London makes Newcastle silver with the indented lion a significant rarity.

A George IV Fiddle Thread and Shell pattern marrowscoop made in London in 1822 by William Chawner, initialled M under a Duke's coronet for the Duke of Manchester, Marlborough or Montrose.

Price: £325.00

There were three Dukedoms in Great Britain extant in 1822 where the title begins with an M- Manchester, Marlborough and Montrose.

The Dukedom of Manchester was created for the 4th Earl of Manchester in 1719. In 1822 the holder of the title was William, 5th Duke (1771-1843) who acceded to the title in 1788. The Duke was educated at Harrow before entering the army in 1787 and retiring in 1788 as a Lieutenant. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire from 1793 to 1841, Governor of Jamaica from 1808 to 1827 and Postmaster General from 1827 to 1830. In 1793 the Duke married Lady Susan Gordon, sister of the Duke of Gordon, and the couple had 8 children. In the Memoirs of a Highland Lady it is noted that by 1813 the Duchess had parted from the Duke and disappeared with one of the footmen. The Duke's obituary noted him as having been "distinguished as a first rate waterman on the Thames" in his youth and referred to as "a great fool" by Henrietta Countess of Bessborough in 1798. The authoress of Memoirs of a Highland Lady was much kinder, referring to him as "the most beautiful statue-like person that ever was seen in flesh and blood".

The Dukedom of Marlborough was created for John Churchill, Commander of the army that defeated Louis XIV and ended the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1702. By 1822 the title was held by his great-great grandson George, 5th Duke (1766-1840). George was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford receiving his M.A. in 1786 and an Honorary Doctorate in Canon Law in 1792. After representing several seats in Parliament from 1790 to 1804 he was made a Lord of the Treasury from 1804 to 1806. From 1806 he was summoned to the House of Lords in his father's life time before inheriting the Dukedom in 1817. In 1791 he married Lady Susan Stewart, daughter of the Earl of Galloway and the couple had four children. He also had known illegitimate children and was correspondent in a case of Criminal Conversation (adultery) with Lady Mary Anne Sturt, daughter of the Earl of Shaftesbury and wife of Charles Sturt, in 1801. The Duke was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1803 and was also a founding member of the Roxburghe Club, an important group of bibliophiles. In his obituary it was noted that during his latter years "he lived in utter retirement at one corner of his magnificent palace [Blenheim Palace], a melancholy instance of the results of his extravagance".

The Dukedom of Montrose was created for the 8th Earl and 4th Marquess of Montrose in 1707. By 1822 the incumbent was James, 4th Duke (1755-1836). The Duke was another old Etonian but went on to Trinity College, Cambridge (receiving his M.A. in 1775). He also held several seats in Parliament, from 1780 to 1790, before inheriting the Dukedom in 1790. The Duke of Montrose held many varied political posts including being a Lord of the Treasury from 1783 to 1789, Vice President of the Board of Trade from 1789 to 1790 and Joint Paymaster General from 1791 to 1800. Within the Royal Household the Duke was Master of the Horse to George III from 1790 to 1795 and 1807 to 1821 and Lord Chamberlain from 1821-1827 and 1828 to 1830. In Scotland he was also Lord Justice General from 1795 to 1836 as well as being Captain General of the Royal Company of Archers, the Monarch's official bodyguard in Scotland, from 1824 to 1830. The Duke married twice- firstly, in 1785 to Lady Jemima Ashburnham, daughter of the Earl of Ashburnham, by whom he had one son who died in infancy and secondly to Lady Caroline, daughter of the 4th Duke of Manchester, by whom he had six daughters and one son. One of the Duke's claims to fame is that he was responsible for the removal of the legislation banning the wearing of the kilt in 1782.

A George II marrow scoop made in Boston circa 1750 by Daniel Henchman.

Price: £325.00

A marrow scoop made in London in 1724 with indistinct maker's mark and a small additional 'P' engraved with complex monogram.   
Price: £320.00

This small 'P' mark is usually associated with the Scarlett family of spoonmakers

A George II marrow spoon with shell back made in London in 1759 by Richard Hawkins.

Price: £295.00

Richard Hawkins was born in 1726, the son of Richard Hawkins and his wife Ann, and became a member of the Goldsmiths' Company by patrimony in 1748. In 1753 Hawkins had transferred to him the last two apprentices from the workshop of noted spoonmaker Marmaduke Daintrey and appears again in the records of the Goldsmiths' Company in 1755 and again in 1763. In 1764-1765 there is evidence that Hawkins disbanded his workshop and ceased manufacturing.

Further details about Richard Hawkins can be found in 'Recent research into the Missing Registers' on pages 62-65 of Silver Society Journal 10 (1998) by Luke Schrager.

A Victorian Hanoverian Thread Shell and Drop pattern (sometimes called Lamerie pattern) small scoop for cheese or ice cream, by Francis Higgins London 1887, crested with a demi-horse .
Price: £250.00

A George IV Old English pattern campaign marrow scoop (11.9 cm long) made in London in 1822 by William Eley and William Fearn, initialled {B}.
Price:

A George III Old English pattern marrowscoop with feather-edge decoration made in London in 1769 by John Lampfert, crested with a cockerel.

Price: £220.00