Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Korea, Room 47g

Spoon

918 - 1392 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

There are over forty Korean spoons in the V&A's collections. These graceful bronze spoons were created for daily use at home or in the royal court. The exaggerated curve of this spoon's handle, along with its swallow-tail shaped end and pointed bowl suggest that this spoon dates to the later Koryô period (918-1392). Though an elegant design, it would not have been easy to use, and at the end of the Koryô period such dramatic curves were dropped in favour of straight handles.


Object details

Object type
Materials and techniques
Cast and beaten Bronze
Brief description
Spoon; bronze; swallow-tail end; Korea, Koryo dynasty (918-1392)
Physical description
The spoon has a curved handle with incised dots on the base and four pairs of incised transverse lines at the top. The swallow tail handle is decorated with lines enclosing a motif in pricked dots.

Colour: Bronze
Dimensions
  • Length: 10in
  • Bowl width: 1.25in
Width: 3.2 Notes: Length 10", bowl width 1.25"
Style
Summary
There are over forty Korean spoons in the V&A's collections. These graceful bronze spoons were created for daily use at home or in the royal court. The exaggerated curve of this spoon's handle, along with its swallow-tail shaped end and pointed bowl suggest that this spoon dates to the later Koryô period (918-1392). Though an elegant design, it would not have been easy to use, and at the end of the Koryô period such dramatic curves were dropped in favour of straight handles.
Collection
Accession number
M.47-1937

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Record createdFebruary 3, 2000
Record URL
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