c.1860's James Wilson Long Nose Spoon
Following his time under the tutelage of Hugh Philp, Clubmaker James Wilson set up his own shop in St. Andrews in 1852. Wilson would pass in 1866. This short time period out on his own as a clubmaker lends to a scarcity of the high quality Wilson long nose clubs to be found, this becomes even more magnified when one considers the scarcity of spoons of this condition on the open market.
This James Wilson long nose example remains in good condition, with a ram's horn sole insert affixed by three wooden dowels and lead weight head insert in back. There is a strong crown stamp 'J. Wilson' with each letter legible, a highly desirable feature of this splice neck long nose spoon from c.1870's with a lambskin grip. Please note: These wooden pegs, since they are uniform, are likely replacements used to affix the ram's horn insert. The ram's horn insert itself, while there are imperfections that seemed to match the contours of the wooden sole in which it is affixed tightly into, also looks to be an after-production adjustment as there is some adhesive that is found between the rams horn on the back edge and wood seen when closely examining the very difficult to obtain J Wilson club. It measures 43" from the top of the grip to the bottom of the heel. Additional measurements of significant are 1" from the top of the face to bottom and 4" from toe to end of crown head (top of head toe to turn in hosel).
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