A knife and fork may seem the perfect combination by modern standards, but before forks came into general use the knife and the spoon were the two vital, complementary utensils which served the needs at table. While eighteenth century examples of knives with handles of cast silver are available at a very high cost, the expense involved in making these in the heavier-gauge silver means that most eighteenth century examples available today are of the thinner silver produced at the end of the century.

Forks were used increasingly in England after the Restoration. The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has a two-pronged fork made in 1632, one of the oldest silver table forks, but this is a very rare example. Later examples were three-pronged, usually followed by the four- pronged variety which we use today, although both types might also be made concurrently. Early fork handles resembled those of contemporary spoons and, as the use of forks increased during the eighteenth century, so the ornament and shapes described for spoon stems were reflected in fork designs. Apart from silver handles, forks might also be given handles of other materials including ivory, amber, mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell, wood or bone.

Antique Collector MagazineMatching sets of cutlery were not very apparent until the later years of the seventeenth century and it was not until the eighteenth century that their use became more general. The dawn of the Georgian era saw the gradual appearance of matching knives and forks with cast silver hafts. Silver-handled knives and forks made during the final years of the eighteenth century may not be hallmarked, since those weighing under five pennyweights of silver were exempt after 1790. Instead, certain manufacturers applied the word Sterling, together with their own mark, and since by this time the cutlery industry of Sheffield had reached unprecedented sales, most cutlery so struck is likely to have come from that area.

Miscellaneous

A reminder of a custom long past in England is the marrow scoop, a utensil which was used exactly as its name implies: for scooping out the marrow from cooked marrow bones, a nutritional habit now extinct. Marrow scoops are numerous. They consist of a scoop at one end, shaped like an elongated spoon bowl, usually with a thinner type of scoop at the other end for penetrating narrow regions of the bone. Certain spoons have a marrow scoop at the end of their stems, and these are generally called marrow spoons, early examples of which are very rare. Usually hallmarks were punched on the reverse-side of the stem. Unlike the marrow scoop, cheese scoops can still fulfil a useful role at the table today. Late eighteenth century and nineteenth century examples are fairly common, consisting of a handle perhaps of wood, bone or mother-of-pearl into which has been inserted the tang of the shallow scoop for gouging out the cheese.

The fish slice, too, still has a practical use. Most eighteenth century examples dating from the last three decades of the century were attractively pierced with neo-classical or marine patterns, through which the fish juices were strained. Various decorative patterns in piercings followed during the nineteenth century. When handles were of silver their patterns generally matched those of the cutlery of the period. Fish knives were a far later idea and did not begin to filter into general usage until around the time after George IV had ascended the throne. Asparagus servers were earlier, appearing more generally during the last 30 years or so of the eighteenth century and usually shaped similarly to sugar tongs but larger, of course, and sometimes with a guiding spring between the two arms.

Grape scissors also date from the late eighteenth century, but such examples are rare. Mostly they were made from circa 1800. Early examples are simple and plain with ring handles and blades rather like sewing scissors. Later they were adorned with appropriate decoration in the form of grapes and vine foliage, and with one blade interlocking the other like garden secateurs. Ladles for soup and sauces were used from about 1760, their stems similar to contemporary flatware. Pudding or pastry slices also date from about this time, resembling fish slices, with ornament typical of each period.

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