‘Oure Trusty and Welbeloved Robert Amadas’

The tradition of gifting an apostle spoon at the baptism of a godchild became especially popular in the latter decades of the 15th Century. Depending on one’s status, a single spoon, a quartet, or even a dozen could be presented for the rite. A thirteenth ‘master’ spoon was on rarer occasions also commissioned to represent Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary. The earliest surviving examples of such christening spoons date to the first decade of the reign of King Henry VII; mere years after the introduc- tion of date letter hallmarks by the London assay office. A will of this period at York confirms this practice to us, in an audit of: “xiji cocliaris ar- genti com Apostolis super eorum fines” (13 silver gilt spoons with apostles on the top of their ends). Unsurprisingly, this would give rise to colloqui- alisms advanced over the next century by Shake- speare, and is the most likely origin for the mod- ern exhortation ‘born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth’. Aptly therefore the utensil also carries a contemporary sobriquet – a ‘gossip’ spoon.

Apostle spoons could also be presented upon marriage, and in time as the York probate attests, through inheritance. Despite their overt religious connotations, production and use – especially as a full set – reflected their principle function for dining. LeZotte has identified a tangible inter- relationship between this iconography and the principal five human senses, and in particular how their juxtaposition would blend in the Tudor mindset. The opposing views of the Benedictine sacrament and St Augustine posed a serious question: were our senses evidence of the weakness of the human spirit towards omnipresent sin? Or was our receptiveness to such sensations the key to faithful worship (Note 1)? The artistic development of this ‘spiritual battle’ through Tudor tableware – the modern instrument – is as interesting as it is perplexing. One could draw upon wider historic precedents and consider their equivalence to the pseudo-apotropaic devices borne on Greek and Roman vessels utilised in pre-Christian dining spaces. The upheaval of the English Civil War and forcible transition of power to the Puritanical Commonwealth resulted in the successful destruction of almost all pre-1649 plate including the loss of the original English Crown Jewels, rendering surviving specimens frustratingly pauce and in the instance of the Swaythling Spoons, of the highest rarity.

The outward display of personal wealth experienced its own renaissance during this period. The cessation of the ruinous internecine conflicts of the ‘Wars of the Roses’ ceded the geopolitical stage to the active promotion of new favour at the nascent Tudor court. One such beneficiary of this lucrative market was the Amadas family, originally of Tavistock, Devon. William Amadas would be fortunate to sire four sons onto whom he could pass the traditions of his goldsmith’s craft. He had honed his own talents through an apprenticeship to Sir Hugh Bryce, lifetime Governor of the King’s Mint at the Tower after March 1466 and Usher of the Exchange from February 1472 (Note 2). His eldest son, Robert Amadas, would marry Bryce’s granddaughter. In 1492, Robert would become a lowys, and soon after would be officially sworn into the annals of the Goldsmith’s Company in 1494. He would be admitted to their livery in 1503, and go on to serve as a company warden from 1511. By then, his meteoric career rise would, like his grandfather-in-law, already encompass Royal patronage.

On 17th December 1505, King Henry VII had Amadas employed in the office of ‘keeper of the exchange’ at 200 marks per annum to supply bullion to Robert Fenrother and William Rede, the new masters and keepers of the money in the Tower of London, England and Calais. The peaceful accession of King Henry VIII on 21st April 1509 led to the pardon of many subjects proscribed under his father. Robert is one such party listed therein, recorded simply as ‘of London, Goldsmith, late keeper of the exchange of Henry VII’.

His crime is not clear, but his return to Mint duties as deputy to Lord Mountjoy was swift. At New Year’s Day, 1510, Amadas would be one of seven goldsmiths to share in the payments of 484l. 10s. 8½d. for Royal gifts. However Amadas’ skill was already being viewed above that of his peers. The following month Amadas alone would receive 451l. 12s. 2d. for ‘141oz. of plate of gold stuff for disguisings including 45 roses of gold enamelled and 56 gold Pu[m]gar[nets]’ [sic] as part of provisions for the King’s fortnight at Westminster. Special commissions would continue throughout the year including the gold bullion work on 100 guardsman’s jackets in June at a 1l. per uniform, and a further 266l. 18s. 4d. in September for ‘letters, wreaths, harts and roses of fine gold’ for the King’s trip to Shaftesbury and Salisbury. In October 1510, a loan of 1,000l. received directly from the King at Greenwich in March would be repaid. The following year, Amadas would receive payments of 163l. 6s. 8d and 1,146l. 11s. 9d for the provision of “259 letters of H., weighing 89 oz. and 218 letters of K., 81 oz. 2 dwt.” for the jousting pageant held at Westminster on 12-13th February 1511, and associated dinner termed “the Golldyn Arber in the Archeyerd of Pleyser” held at Whitehall. The spectacle, initiated by Henry’s ‘Tournament Challenge’ was organised to celebrate the birth of his heir presumptive Henry, Duke of Cornwall, on New Year’s Day. It told the story of four knights, Ceure Loyall, Vailliaunt Desyre, Bone Voloyr and Joyous Panser, to be played by the King, Sir Thomas Knyvett, Sir William Courtenay and Sir Edward Neville respectively. That night the King wore 887 pieces of gold, his Master of Horse, Knyvett, 893 pieces. Official accounts state that together they would lose a scarcely comprehensible 225oz. of gold from their dress; but that Amadas would receive back 214½ oz soon after. Were further evidence still needed for the burgeoning success of Amadas’ craft, that year the King would provide only partial funding for the ‘1,000l. needed for repairs at Windsor Castle’.