A 450-year-old silver spoon made during the reign of Elizabeth I is set to be auctioned.
The Tudor relic, made in Chester, is estimated to fetch between £2,000–£3,000 when it goes under the hammer at Roseberys, London, on 30 September.
The relic is believed to be one of the earliest known surviving Chester silver spoons. The only comparably early example identified is a c.1580 spoon by William Mutton in the Grosvenor Museum in Chester, the auctioneers said.
Georgina Agnew, from Roseberys, called the spoon “a remarkable repository of Chester’s history”.
The spoon which dates to about 1575 was made by Chester goldsmith John Lingley I.
Lingley’s surviving work includes a 1574 communion cup made for a church in North Wales, making the spoon one of the earliest documented examples of his work, the auctioneers said.
