Georgian Silver Toddly Ladle with Baleen Handle

• Baleen - Baleen is the filter feeder system in a baleen whale, and these whales have several hundred plates of baleen with a hairy fringe on their upper jaw.
  
  Baleen refers to the solid plate, and it is historically important as it was sought by whalers as a by-product of the whaling industry, who called it whalebone, though it is not made of bone at all, and used it for scrimshaw.
  
  The earliest artefacts were made of baleen produced from Arctic whaling in the 17th century.
  
  In the 19th century baleen was an important raw material, comparable to present-day plastics. Its thermoplastic nature and strength meant it could be used to make a wide variety of functional and decorative objects.
  
  Sailors used baleen to make sewing boxes and other small containers and another common use was brush bristles; it was even used as runners on toboggans.
  
  Baleen basketry was developed into a craft, with examples of simple baskets to complex woven ones, which could take months to complete.
  
  Other shore-based uses included in corsets, buggy whips, umbrella ribs, canes, skirt hoops and especially as a cheaper substitute for ivory in carving.
• Embossed / Repousse - Embossing, also known as repousse, is the technique of decorating metal with raised designs, by pressing or beating out the design from the reverse side of the object.It is the opposite of chasing, where the decoration is applied from the front. An embossed or repoussed object may have chasing applied to finish off the design.
• George Iii - George III (1738 - 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820.
• George Ii - George II (1683 - 1760) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 until his death in 1760.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• ladles, toddy - silver items 153
• silver cutlery / flatware, settings - unboxed 1,407