Spoons in history

In fact spoons are as old as history, primitive people would employ various materials, wood, stone, shells, ivory and bone in ancient times, before the eventual use of metals. Much later bronze tools replaced the more basic forms, silver and gold implements being introduced in the more advanced and affluent cultures. Spoons fashioned from precious metals were first mentioned in biblical times, an early refernce in the Book of Exodus speaks of the Lord commanding Moses to make golden spoons for the Tabernacle.

The museums of Europe contain numerous examples of early spoons, and it is certain they were used both in the home and at the temple by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.  In the early Christian era spoons were in common use, whilst in later, medieval times the Saxons would use horn, wood and silver implements, again many examples can be found in the museums of Europe, which demonstrate that the Italians were probably the first to use silver spoons.

A fashionable gift in England during the Tudor and Stuart periods, by the wealthy, were the 'Apostle spoons', generally presented at christenings, these were so called because of the Apostle figure at the end of the handle, complete sets of these spoons are rare and valuable. Working and lower classes used spoons fashioned from the cheaper metals, copper, pewter, or even alchemy spoons, a form of brass, these can be found in the Americas in the graves of native Americans of the 16th/17th century. During this period various shapes and forms of the stems were used, sometimes ending in objects such as acorns or birds for example, however these were replaced at the time of the Commonwealth by a simpler, plain and flat stem, termed as the 'Puritan' spoon.

Immigrants in to the New World naturally took with them their traditional implements, encouraging early Colonial silversmiths to copy those designs. In the latter years of the 17th century a style of spoon was developed whereby the back of the handle was extended to approximately the centre of the bowl , this formed a sort of bulge or ridge and was termed the 'rat tail' spoon, which developed on both sides of the Atlantic. Other than decorative the purpose of this ridge is unknown, but may have been developed to add strength. The bowl of the spoon is oval shaped with a notched, or 'trifid' end piece, in which a flattened end contains two notches thereby forming three lobes. Often these spoons are engraved and relatively rare as they were only manufactured from around 1660 until the end of the century.

Following on from these spoons, the bowls developed into being egg shaped and the trifids disappeared to be replaced by a simple rounded end, whilst the 'rat tails' were phased out, to be replaced by 'drop' spoons at the heel of the spoon. Either single, double or extended drops could be formed, a later article will look more closely at these spoons.

The first 'Hanoverian' spoons appeared in the early 1700's and can be either 'rat tail' produced from 1710 -1730, or without the 'rat tail' from 1730-1770, these spoons had a widened stem towards the end and with a 'turned up' or curved terminal at the front, this facilitated laying the spoon face down in the French manner. There are many varients on these spoons, some with fancy decorated 'shell' backs or other decorative scenes.

During the last 30 years of the 18th century a plainer 'old english' style spoon was developed, with the stem end turned down instead of up and with simple rounded terminal ends and single drop to the reverse bowl arrangment. This most common pattern persists to this day. In common with earlier patterns there are many decorative features and engravings added to these spoons.

During the 19th century the most dominant pattern is the 'fiddle' pattern, easily recognizable and originating in France, these spoons featured widened stems at the handle and rounded terminals and are found with or without the 'shoulders', these being located close to the junction with the bowl.

prior to around 1770 in England, there were three main spoon sizes, the teaspoon, the prringer, and the tablespoon, the absence of early silver forks is noticable and will be addressed in a later article.

Whilst solid silver might be preferable to collectors, silver plated items might be construed as being a modern invention, however the ancients were familair with the combining of separate metals, this art was apparently lost in Europe through the influence of the Church, who controlled of the arts and crafts in England up to the thirteenth century. The art was revived in Sheffield England in the mid 1700's and was embraced by the wealthy families who were able to save their solid silver items for special occassions.

A subsequent article will look at the influence of silver plated items on the silver trade.