{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O296933"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O296933/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JC1018/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JC1018/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JC1018","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JC1017","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JC1019","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O296933/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O296933","accessionNumber":"230-1903","objectType":"Fork","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Two-pronged forks were originally paired with spoons, and used to eat sticky desserts, such as preserved ginger. The central role of forks in dining appears to have been developed by the Italians in the sixteenth century, but it was not until the seventeenth century that English diners began to use forks instead of knife blades or their fingers to convey solid foodstuffs to their mouths. Three-pronged forks appeared in the 1680s and four-pronged ones are common by the 1760s. The design of fork handles initially depended on the metal used to make the tines. Steel-tined forks had handles that matched steel-bladed knives, whereas forks made entirely of silver were designed with the same style stems as spoons. The stem of this fork is a late example of the Hanoverian pattern, a style popular across Europe from around 1710 onwards.","physicalDescription":"Four-pronged fork of sterling silver, Hanoverian pattern, the handle engraved with an heraldic crest and the initial S.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Northcote, Thomas","id":"A36753"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"forging (metal forming)","id":"AAT54033"},{"text":"engraving (incising)","id":"AAT53829"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver, forged and engraved","categories":[{"text":"Eating","id":"THES48963"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Tableware & cutlery","id":"THES48888"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2016JC1018","2016JC1017","2016JC1019"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES403976"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Fork","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1791-1792","earliest":"1791-05-29","latest":"1792-05-28"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Gift of J.H. Fitzhenry","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"19.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"03/03/2016","earliest":"2016-03-03","latest":"2016-03-03"},"part":"Tip of tines to tip of finial","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"61.5","unit":"g","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"03/03/2016","earliest":"2016-03-03","latest":"2016-03-03"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"On back, towards top of stem, L. to R.: maker's mark 'TN' for Thomas Northcote; lion passant, the mark for sterling silver; the leopard's head crowned, the mark of the London assay office; the letter 'q' for the assay year 1791-92; the profile of George III, the duty mark.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"Engraved on the finial with a crest, out of a ducal coronet, an eagle's head and wings, and the initial 'S'.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Unidentified"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Silver, English (London), 1791-92, mark of Thomas Northcote","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Grimwade, Arthur G.. <u>London Goldsmiths 1697-1837. Their Marks and Lives</u>. 1st  edn. London: Faber and Faber, 1976."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Grimwade, Arthur G.. <u>London Goldsmiths 1697-1837. Their Marks and Lives</u>. 1st  edn. London: Faber and Faber, 1976."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pickford, Ian. <u>Silver Flatware. English, Irish and Scottish 1660-1980</u>. Woodbridge,  Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1983. ISBN 0907462359"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Snodin, Michael. <u>English Silver Spoons</u>. London: Charles Letts, 1974. ISBN 850971101"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hughes, G. Bernard. 'The Evolution of the Silver Table Fork'. <u>Country Life</u>, vol. cxxvi (September 24, 1959), pp. 364-5"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"crests","id":"AAT233389"},{"text":"coronet","id":"AAT213701"},{"text":"eagle","id":"x39158"},{"text":"wings","id":"x34900"},{"text":"initials (abbreviations)","id":"AAT28709"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["230-1903"],"accessionNumberNum":"230","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1903,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-05-23","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}