Little is known of David Stoughton who was active as a silversmith in Kingston around 1795 to 1800. This delicate toddy ladle with its turned whalebone handle was acquired by Kingston merchant Robert Macaulay (1744-1800) and his wife Ann Kirby Macaulay (1770-1850) and descended through several generations of their family until it was donated to the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in 1986 by Charlotte Macaulay Abbot.