Spoon
1764-1765 (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 decoration). 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.
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, forged |
| Brief description | Silver, London hallmarks for 1764-65; mark possibly Nathaniel Horwood, Grimwade 3744 - unascribed; Hanoverian pattern with unusual fancy back, a stork with a snake in its beak, among bulrushes - reference to Aesop's Fables? |
| Physical description | Spoon of silver, handle turned up at the end, pointed bowl with a stork amongst bulrushes on the back. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Gift of J.H. Fitzhenry |
| 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 decoration). 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. |
| Bibliographic reference | Ian Pickford, Silver Flatware, English, Irish and Scottish, 1660-1980, Woodbridge, Antique Collectors; Club, 1983. ISBN. 0907462359 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 170-1903 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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