Pair of Spoons thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Pair of Spoons

1850-1869 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Iran (made)

Reporting on the Museum’s Iranian holdings to date in May 1873, Robert Murdoch Smith assessed a set of wooden spoons a follows: “All these spoons are made of the wood of the pear tree at the small town of Abadeh (not Shiraz). They are usually made in three sizes, the largest for taking sherbet, the medium size for soup, pilau etc. and the smallest for pickles. These are fair specimens of this kind of work.” (V&A Archives).


Object details

Category
Woodwork
Object type
Pair of spoons
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Spoon
  • Sherbet Spoon
Materials and techniques
Carved wood (lime or pear)
Brief description
Carved wooden spoons, Iran (Abadeh), Qajar period, 1850-1869
Physical description
Two wooden spoons with a large boat-shaped bowl carved with vertical ribbing, fixed to a long rectangular handle decorated in openwork floral patterning.
Dimensions
  • Length: 17.5 cm (Note: For 930A)
  • Width: 3cm (Note: Width of laddle for 930A)
  • Length: 16.3 cm (Note: For 930)
  • Width: 2.7cm (Note: Width of laddle for 930)
Style
Qajar
Object history
This spoon was purchased at the Paris Exhibition of 1867 for 2 shillings each.
Associations
Unknown
Iran
Summary
Reporting on the Museum’s Iranian holdings to date in May 1873, Robert Murdoch Smith assessed a set of wooden spoons a follows: “All these spoons are made of the wood of the pear tree at the small town of Abadeh (not Shiraz). They are usually made in three sizes, the largest for taking sherbet, the medium size for soup, pilau etc. and the smallest for pickles. These are fair specimens of this kind of work.” (V&A Archives).
Bibliographic references
  • Major R. Murdoch Smith, Persian Art (Chapman and Hall: London, 1876), p. 38-9.
  • Diba, Layla S. (Ed.) Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch, 1785-1925 London, 1998 p.214, fig.64a
Collection
Middle East Section
Accession number
930-1869

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O321800/pair-of-spoons-unknown/
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