SHAKESPEARE: Rare set of six 18th century "Falstaff" picture front and back teaspoons
£199.00
YEAR OF MANUFACTURE: circa 1760
ORIGIN: London, England
MAKER: probably T and W Chawner
WEIGHT: 2.68 troy ounces (2.95 ounces or 83.50 grams)
INITIALS: R.H.
STOCK CODE: H2012071008
Item Description
a rare set of six mid-eighteenth century teaspoons with terminals designed as face of Falstaff within scrolling and shell border. Reverse of terminals engraved with initials R.H. and reverse of bowls decorated with coronets,possibly symbolic of Prince Hal (worn)
Length: 130mm / 5"
History
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is ultimately repudiated after Hal becomes king. Falstaff also appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Though primarily a comic figure, Falstaff still embodies a kind of depth common to Shakespeare's tricky comedy. In Act II, Scene III of Henry V, his death is described by the character "Hostess", possibly the Mistress Quickly of Henry IV, who describes his body in terms that parody Plato's description of the death of Socrates. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falstaff
OFFERED BY:
Heraldic Silver Ltd
By appointment only, London, United Kingdom View map
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£199.00