The Owner:  Major General John Hammond came to Anne Arundel County from Isle of Wight, England, in 1663.  His descendants now claim residence all over the United States.  Yet, little of the early Hammonds survives.  Indeed, only three known Hammond family objects exist that date to the 18th century.   Hence, this rare set of Maryland spoons is of tremendous historical value to the Hammond-Harwood House.  Engraved with the initials "CH," it is unclear which "CH" commissioned the spoons, especially given the fact that both Charles Hammond,  the uncle of Matthias Hammond (1692-1772), and Charles Hammond, the brother of Matthias Hammond (1729-1772), died in the same year.  In fact, there is a whole line of Charles Hammonds that descend from Major General John Hammond.   Nonetheless, a clue in the case comes from the modern provenance.  The donor was a clear descendant of Charles Hammond and Rachel Stinson who would have been the uncle and aunt of Matthias Hammond, the twenty-six-year-old builder of the Hammond-Harwood House.    

The Maker:  At this stage, little is known of the supposed maker of the spoons, Jacob Mohler of Baltimore.  Mohler was born in 1744 and died in 1773, putting a definitive cap of the spoons' manufacture.  Based on the style of the spoons, a date between 1760-1773 is entirely possible.   Still, regional silver scholar Mark Letzer questioned why the affluent Hammond family would have selected a silversmith from  rural town of Baltimore in the third quarter of the 18th century.  Indeed, Annapolis was still in its Golden Age and a number of prosperous silversmiths resided in the city.   With hundreds, even thousands of acres strewn across Maryland, proximity might be the key.  Was Charles Hammond's primary residence closer to Baltimore than to Annapolis?  Research is still pending on all of the above topics.  The remainder of this set of important teaspoons is on display in the Dining Room of the Hammond-Harwood House.