Spoon thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Spoon

1700-1701 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A spoon is a type of household implement used (depending on the form and size) for serving, stirring, basting, eating etc., and consisting of a shallow bowl (usually oval, sometimes circular) and a handle (varying in length, curvature and style of decoration0. From about the 1660s to the 1760s, the stem curved in the same direction of the bowl but thereafter, with the advent of spoons made in the ‘Old English Pattern’, the stem curved in the opposite direction of the bowl so that when a spoon is laid on a table both the bottom of the bowl and the terminal of the stem are in contact with the surface and the spoon is in a balanced position; hence on later spoons the decoration is on the front of the handle.

The styles of spoons vary tremendously, especially in the shape of the stem, the decoration of the bowl and the form of the terminal. The patterns of some spoons have distinctive names based on the shape and style of the handle, e.g. fiddle pattern, Old English Pattern, Onslow Pattern and dozens of others, both old and modern.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver, engraved
Brief description
Spoon, London hallmarks for 1700-01, mark of Lawrence Coles.
Physical description
Spoon, silver, oval bowl with pearled rat-tail, flat spreading handle with cleft end. Engraved with the arms of Pipton, co.Essex.
Dimensions
  • Length: 7.8in
  • Width: 1.8in
Marks and inscriptions
  • London hallmarks for 1700-01
  • Mark of Lawrence Coles
  • Engraved with the arms of Pipton, co. Essex.
Credit line
Bequeathed by Dr R. C. Jackson
Object history
Bequest - Dr R C Jackson
Acquisition RF: 23 / 6300
Subjects depicted
Summary
A spoon is a type of household implement used (depending on the form and size) for serving, stirring, basting, eating etc., and consisting of a shallow bowl (usually oval, sometimes circular) and a handle (varying in length, curvature and style of decoration0. From about the 1660s to the 1760s, the stem curved in the same direction of the bowl but thereafter, with the advent of spoons made in the ‘Old English Pattern’, the stem curved in the opposite direction of the bowl so that when a spoon is laid on a table both the bottom of the bowl and the terminal of the stem are in contact with the surface and the spoon is in a balanced position; hence on later spoons the decoration is on the front of the handle.

The styles of spoons vary tremendously, especially in the shape of the stem, the decoration of the bowl and the form of the terminal. The patterns of some spoons have distinctive names based on the shape and style of the handle, e.g. fiddle pattern, Old English Pattern, Onslow Pattern and dozens of others, both old and modern.
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
M.345-1923

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Record createdSeptember 10, 2004
Record URL
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