Spoon with a silver-gilt bowl and a handle formed from a branch of red coral, Germany, ca.1550-75

Spoon with a silver-gilt bowl and a handle formed from a branch of red coral. The bowl of the spoon bears an unidentified shield of arms a coronet and initials. It is further decorated with elaborate scrolling patterns and the gilt bottom of the handle is decorated with classical heads in low relief. These heads represent, most probably the goddess Diana, since they have a crescent moon, her personal emblem, above them.

Purchased from the collection of Ralph Bernal

A very similar spoon exists as part of a set with a knife and fork, purchased around 1579 by the Elector Augustus of Saxony, who had one of the largest-known collections of coral-handled cutlery. This indicates that the present spoon may have originally formed part of a set. The Duke of Bavaria, Albrecht V, also bought carved and uncarved corals, including knives, forks and spoons. There appears to have been a lot of coral circulating around Europe at this time. Coral branches are listed in Venetian shop inventories of the second half of the 16th c. Main trading centres were especially Trapani and Genoa in Italy, but also Nuremberg and Augusta in Germany and the latter two are famous for their spectacular combinations of materials, such as coral with nautilus shells, mother of pearl or ostrich eggs. Coral, both carved and uncarved appears in Kunstkammer, from Francesco de’Medici’s studiolo, to that of the Elector of Saxony. In Ferdinando de’Medici’s Tribuna, where he kept a whole collection of exotic and valuable objects, a 1642 inventory lists a spoon with a coral handle and rock crystal bowl.
Several examples of spoons with coral branch handles remain, a testament to the popularity of this type of object.

Prices when given in inventories are given in "v" and are as follows: A Messerbesteck (cutlery set) mit turkischen Messern, Loffeln und Peronen (i.e. eating forks) von lauter (pure) Corallen: 250 v. Item ein kleines Futteral (case) mit einer Figur, einem Messer, Loffel und Perronen mit corallinem Heft (handle): 25 v.

The question remains of whether they were ever actively used for dining purposes.
It is definitely the case that cutlery made of precious and unusual materials was often made for the wealthier classes. They demonstrated the culture, good taste and wealth of the owner, especially as he usually took his own cutlery with him when invited to dinner or travelling. Contemporary writers praise the use of cutlery made of precious materials: Giovanni Pontano in his De Splendore wrote in his section on ‘those furnishings which are appropriate to the splendid man' that: ‘The base man and the splendid man both use a knife at table. The difference between them is this. The knife of the first is sweaty and has a horn handle; the knife of the other man is polished and has a handle made of some noble material that has been worked with an artist’s mastery...and moreover it is appropriate for those of senatorial level and of the prince’s household to have a certain superiority, so that their goods should not be, merely polished and abundant but also rare and distinct.’ Later on in the same section he says: ‘Indeed, it is praiseworthy if along with the quantity and excellence of the furnishings, there is a variety in the work, the artistry and the material of a series of objects of the same category.’
Tomas Coryat in 1608 also comments on the use of silver cutlery by the proper gentleman, rather than iron and poorer materials.
The Duchess of Cleves possessed, in 1566, eleven spoons made of porcelain, decorated with branches of coral, while knives with handles of agate and coral are mentioned within the accounts of the ‘menus plaisirs du roi’ in France. Albrecht V of Bavaria had so much cutlery decorated with coral, he refused to buy some more, when it was offered for sale. The sheer quantities involved indicate that it was not purely and exclusively decorative. I would suggest that it may also have been used on occasion, although the fragility and preciousness of the materials would have precluded frequent usage. That it may have been used on occasion, is backed up firstly by the fact that one of the cutlery sets offered to Albrecht V for purchase came in a little case – presumably a travelling case, and secondly by the presence of a coat of arms on the back of the spoon, that would have operated as an identifier to prevent loss. Giovanni Tescione, too, seems to think that coral cutlery was used. He says that it was especially in the table accoutrements of the great houses that coral, especially in its natural form as branches, was used.

This coral-handled spoon may have been part of a set, although it is impossible to tell whether it was just paired with a knife, or whether it was part of a larger cutlery set. A similar coral-handled spoon, together with a matching knife and fork, was purchased around 1579 by the Elector Augustus of Saxony, who had one of the largest-known collections of coral-handled cutlery. Coral was not only beautiful, it was also believed to have a range of protective properties, including the ability to ward off malignant magic. Its use in sixteenth-century cutlery shows not only the fashion for combining beautiful, natural materials with the goldsmith's skill to make a functional, domestic object, but also suggests persisting concerns about poisoned food, a danger which the presence of coral could avert. This particular spoon is decorated with an image of the goddess Diana, identifiable by the crescent moon she wears in her hair. Diana, the Classical goddess of the moon and of hunting, and her image here may refer to the owner's name or personal emblem. The coat of arms and initials on the back of the spoon bowl have been engraved at a later date, and suggest the spoon formed part of gifts commemorating a marriage.

2268-1855