A rare Victorian provincial ceremonial silver spade,

A rare Victorian provincial ceremonial silver spade,
maker's mark of John Bell, overstriking another, York circa 1859-63, also with the town mark,
conventional form, rectangular blade engraved with an armorial and inscribed 'This Spade was presented to the Lady Mayoress of York, Mrs W. Fox Clarke, on the occasion of her planting a tree in St. George's Field in commemorating the marriage of H.R.H the Prince of Wales with Princess Alexandra of Denmark, March 10th 1863', wooden handle, length 79.4cm.

Provenance: The Michael Baggott Collection.
The York Assay Office officially closed in 1858, and the date letter used in that year was an X. This spade has a date letter of a Y. Michael in his notes writes that this is a previously unknown date letter and is arguably one of the rarest pieces of York silver known.