Antique 1758 George 11 toddy / punch ladle whale bone handle truly stunning! This very rare item has a twisted baleen whalebone handle with a George 11 silver coin marked 1758. We have 2 advertised separately - see pictures.
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Size: 36 cm long 6 cm cup possibly by Thomas Ellis ?
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George II (George Augustus, 10 November 1683 – 25 October 1760) was a British king. He was born in Germany. He was the last British monarch born outside of Great Britain. New British law in the early 1700s allowed that only his father's mother, Sophia of Hanover, and her Protestant children to inherit the British throne. After the deaths of George's grandmother and Queen Anne of Great Britain in 1714, George's father became king of Great Britain as George I.
Baleen whales (/bəˈliːn/), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammals of the parvorder Mysticeti in the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), which use baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve plankton from the water. Mysticeti comprises the families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals), Eschrichtiidae (the gray whale) and Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale). There are currently 16 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from mesonychians, molecular evidence instead supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 million years ago.
 
The toddy ladle has a long history, with origins dating back to the Roman era. The ladle's basic design of a long handle and cup-like spoon has remained similar over time.
Origins
The basic design of the toddy ladle originated in the Roman era.
Silver became popular for toddy ladles because it was malleable and matched the ornate bowls used to hold toddy.
Silver ladles became widespread in the mid-18th century.
Uses
Toddy ladles were used to serve toddy, a warm beverage made with bourbon, hot water, honey or sugar, spices, and lemon juice.
Toddy was often consumed in Scotland on New Year's Eve.
Materials
Toddy ladles have been made from a variety of materials, including silver, wood, whalebone, and horn.
To conserve silver, ladle heads became lighter and handles were made from other materials like whalebone or horn.
Examples
A toddy ladle made by John Langlands and John Robinson of Newcastle between 1778 and 1793 has a gold coin embedded in the bowl.
A Georgian silver toddy ladle made in Sheffield in 1802 has a twisted handle and a pie crust rim.
An Elgin silver toddy ladle made around 1820 by Thomas Stewart has a fiddle pattern handle.