Soup ladle by John Welch, Fincastle, VA, c1815

Downturned fiddle handle, sugarloaf shoulders, feathered script mono E L on front; 12-7/8" in length. Overall condition is fine. Mark is I.WELCH, as listed in Hollan's "Virginia Silversmiths." Fincastle, then as now, is a small town a tad northwest of Roanoke.