Not currently on display at the V&A

Cutlery Set

1690-1700 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In the 17th century it was not yet common for hosts to provide cutlery when entertaining guests to dinner. Most people of rank had their own personal eating implements, usually a knife and spoon, with a fork increasingly included towards the end of the century, which were carried in a fitted case. Filigree, which became highly fashionable in Europe in the second half of the 17th century, was often used to decorate these expensive implements.

This set of cutlery was discovered in a secret drawer of an old cabinet at Christchurch Mansion, on the outskirts of Ipswich, where Charles II was known to have stayed. It was traditionally believed that this cutlery set was once owned by Charles II, but the marks show that it was not made until after his death.



Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Knife (Culinary Tool)
  • Fork
  • Spoon
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Cutlery set comprising knife, fork and spoon with silver filigree handles, Augsburg (Germany), 1690-1700.
Physical description
Cutlery set comprising knife, fork and spoon with tapering handles formed of open filigree in two vertical halves, joined by a strip of twisted wire, with a domed rosette cap at the top.
Object history
This set of cutlery was discovered in a secret drawer of an old cabinet at Christchurch Mansion, on the outskirts of Ipswich where Charles II was known to have stayed. It is possible but not proven that this cutlery set was once owned by Charles II.
Summary
In the 17th century it was not yet common for hosts to provide cutlery when entertaining guests to dinner. Most people of rank had their own personal eating implements, usually a knife and spoon, with a fork increasingly included towards the end of the century, which were carried in a fitted case. Filigree, which became highly fashionable in Europe in the second half of the 17th century, was often used to decorate these expensive implements.

This set of cutlery was discovered in a secret drawer of an old cabinet at Christchurch Mansion, on the outskirts of Ipswich, where Charles II was known to have stayed. It was traditionally believed that this cutlery set was once owned by Charles II, but the marks show that it was not made until after his death.

Collection
Accession number
495toB-1902

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Record createdMarch 4, 2005
Record URL
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