In the twentieth century it is difficult to imagine eating meals without the aid of cutlery, yet it was not until the eighteenth century that it became the general custom to use forks, knives and spoons. The habit spread only gradually. Towards the later years of the seventeenth century a host might be expected to provide cutlery at table and although this tendency increased, many travellers carried with them their own personal set of a fork, knife and spoon, in a case often made of tooled leather, until as late as around the middle of the eighteenth century.

Spoons

Spoons made their appearance far earlier than forks and knives. The history of the silver spoon is a long and ancient one and the craft of the spooner can be traced back at least to the Middle Ages. Earlier spoons are rare and hardly any specimens remain to show us how the spoon developed after the Romans left these shores. As far as silver spoons are concerned, it was not until considerably later, during the thirteenth century, that these began to be used for domestic purposes, and then only by the court and nobles of the land. Neither did they look much like the elegant utensils to which we are accustomed. Crude and functional until around the middle of the seventeenth century, they were hammered into shape from a single piece of silver, their only concession to decoration being in the ornamental knop, which was sometimes gilt, cast and then soldered into a notch at the stem terminal. The bowls were shaped for the specific purpose of lifting food into the mouth and were not suitable for liquids until later when they became deeper. Very early stems were diamond-shaped, followed by a hexagonal form, both of which tapered slightly towards the knop.

Antique Collector MagazineKnops are of great interest since they took various decorative forms. They included a simple diamond-shaped point; an acorn; a moor’s head; a wrythen (a ball marked with spiral twistings); a woodwose (wildman with a club); a ball; a lion sejant; and seal tops. Worthy of special mention is the maidenhead knop, a popular sixteenth century shape, although in fact one of the earliest types since it is noted in a will long before the sixteenth century. Silver spoons, it must be remembered, were greatly-cherished personal items which were bequeathed to loved ones with other precious belongings. The Virgin Mary inspired the maidenhead knop, the head-dress of which was particularly interesting since it tended to reflect current styles of fashion, changing as these did over the years.

Apostle spoons are well-known among spoons with decorative knops. They were available singly or in sets of 13, the thirteenth spoon bearing a figure of Christ in Majesty. It was customary to give an apostle spoon as a christening present, the child receiving the spoon depicting the saint after whom he was named, although this custom began to wane after the middle years of the seventeenth century. The apostles included: St Peter who carried a key, two keys or a fish; St John with a chalice, eagle or palm branch; St Andrew carrying a saltire cross; St James the Greater with a staff or other pilgrim appendages; St James the Less with a fuller’s bat because he was killed by a blow on the head from Simeon the fuller; St Philip bearing a pastoral staff and sometimes a basket of bread; St Bartholomew with a butcher’s knife; St Simon Zelotes, a long saw; St Thomas, a spear; St Jude, a cross or club; St Matthias, an axe or lance; St Matthew, a wallet and sometimes an axe; and St Paul with a sword. Such spoons command exceedingly high prices. They have been copied throughout the centuries and even today modern reproductions are made. Quite apart from these genuine reproductions, which can in themselves be deceptive since with a little age they can resemble very easily their originals, there are also faked examples in circulation.

During the seventeenth century further changes evolved in the shape of the spoon, including the slipped-in-the-stalk spoon which had begun to appear earlier, still being made from a single piece of silver, with perhaps the owner’s initials pricked upon the slanting termination of the stem or sometimes in the bowl. The Puritan spoon had developed by about 1650, and began to resemble spoons as we know them today. The end of its stem was cut off squarely and inconspicuously, and was devoid of a knop. The broad, flat stem joined the near-elliptical bowl at the back with a small V-shape. Following the Restoration in 1660 the square Puritan end gave way to the trifid-end spoon which simply meant that the square shapewas hammered out into a thin, rounded leaf form which was divided by two deep notches or cuts near to each side, making three sections and forming a simple trefoil. Originally the sections or lobes were unequal, the outer two being smaller, but later examples had equal sections. The oval bowl and stem were strengthened at the back by a tapering rib which strengthened the junction of stem and bowl, the forerunner of the rat-tail which became general shortly after this.

Later the backs of the bowls around the rat-tail were decorated with scroll-work in low relief, as might be the upper side of the end of the stem. Others were quite plain, or might be engraved with a crest or sometimes initials. The usual size was around six-and-a-half inches in length, although larger examples were also made which measured up to about eight inches. Towards the end of the seventeenth century thepronounced trifid shape lessened, and the cuts or notches at the end of the stem disappeared and developed into a central curve with a lesser one resembling a curved shoulder on either side. This is known as the wavy-end spoon. Sometimes the rat-tail at the back of the bowl might be decorated with small beading. Both trifid and wavy-end spoons have much primitive charm and, although costly, are among the rarer spoons to which collectors can eventually aspire. They can do this by building up a collection of less costly sterling silver spoons and trading them in at a later date. Good examples of the above-mentioned spoons can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

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