Featured Spoons...

I love spoons - the familiarity of the form, an ageless and natural extension of the hand, with incredible variations in design and material, and the sort of comfortable feeling derived from a lifetime of spoons providing me with sustenance, as well as the occasional bitter medicine. They've also given me pleasure in collecting and selling them over the last few decades, originally limiting my personal collection to 500 pieces, culling out as additions were made, later amending to 600, then just stopped counting, though I did continue to sell some of my pieces, usually to justify keeping something much better.

With little time or finances these days to shop for much more than groceries and household needs, rarely add to my collection (and most are not even close at hand right now), but did recently run across a few spoons I just couldn't resist.

The first is an 1893 gilt silver and enamel mocha/demitasse spoon by Danish firm Peter Hertz - years ago, bought a salt and spoon in the same pattern for my Mom, and have wanted one for my collection (only have a few dragonfly spoons, but most are especially nice):



This uncommon piece, by Danish silversmith Erik Magnussen, is engraved with '1919' and bearing an early mark, predates the wonderful pieces 1920s pieces he designed for the American firm Gorham - took me a minute or two to realize that the Skonvirke design on the handle spelled 'FANØ', so this is a souvenir spoon:



This one is a sort of modern, enameled 1938 version of a traditional Sami (Lapp) spoon, made by Finnish firm Hopeatakomo Oy - originally, they were usually made from reindeer horn, but also produced in silver:



The latest piece, by Trondheim Norway maker Josef Smejda, is done in the fashion of Henrik Møller, and has a bowl formed from one of masks that were used on jewelry, etc., as well as on holloware - the designs based on the sculptures on Trondheim's Nidaros Cathedral:



~Cheryl

 

Would love to see other folks' spoons - please post...

~Cheryl

 

Cheryl, those are phenomenal!

I, too, love spoons and have several hundred myself. Sadly, mine are all wrapped & packed at the moment, along with most of my silver, the majority of which has not seen the light of day since we moved a few years back. I simply have no place to display it these days.

 

Most of mine are not here with me at the moment, so I know how you feel - I miss them...

~Cheryl

 

Cheryl they are lovely! I love spoons too though I also seem to just love silver.

I haven't been collecting nearly long enough but I have a few that I especially like. Unfortunately I struggle to take good pictures of shiny objects.

When I can spend some time with lighting I'll see if I can do them justice.

 

Eh, mine are crummy cell phone pics - would love to see yours...

~Cheryl

 

Okay, Cheryl, you asked for it! I dug up some old shots from CT, where we had a huge kitchen that allowed for some spoon display!

Just Christmas spoons:


sugar shells & more:


Misc oddities:


college spoons & more:


Elsewhere in the house, I had my enameled spoon collection - mostly Scandinavian. Also, in my office, I had spoons of just Washington, DC. Haven't found photos of those yet, but I have to get going right now to pick up my daughter.

Enjoy!

 

be careful what you wish for.....

I'm into spooning.....where spoons are not required..!

 

Absolutely stunning. Thank you for sharing yours SBSVC, and love your new additions, Cheryl.

Beautiful spoons!

 

Wow! That is a LOT of spoons, C!

And yours are very special, Cheryl!

I don't limit my collecting to spoons, but do have a soft spot for them - particularly demitasse size. I also ended up with a bunch of souvenir spoons that were my grandmother's and her sister-inlaw's (my grandfather's sister.) I almost bought a rack when I was in California at Thanksgiving, but decided that I wanted one a bit more special (and larger) than the only 1 I saw.

No pictures at the moment because they are all living in the silver chests (4!) or in silvercloth wraps to keep tarnish down. I really need to do something about that.

 

Wonderful spoons, C! We have some of the same spoons, as well as similar taste in cases...

This is an old pic of the cases that were on my dining room wall, with framed 'spoon' postcards between them. I have more pics of cases and racks somewhere, suspect they're in an external hard drive that's packed away...



Quick cell phone shots of some of Mom's spoons and the stray spoons that sit in EAPG spooners and a silver deposit sugar bowl on the kitchen counter.







~Cheryl

 

Beautiful displays! I wish that I had some to share, but I don't collect spoons. The ones I do have are nothing special. So will continue lurking here.

 

Is that a Salem Witch spoon, Cheryl? (bottom row in the last cabinet pic)

 

These are just a few of my favorites (at least today, ask me tomorrow and I'll pick something else).

One Norwegian, one Swedish, one Danish. The pics are dreadful.

 

Those are all EXQUISITE! (and the photos are a-okay, as well!)

I would LOVE to have any or all of them! Very, very nice!

 

Ditto!

Mom has both of the Daniel Low Salem Witch orange spoons (she and her older sister were both born on Halloween).

~Cheryl

 

Which one was Trick & which one was Treat?

 

I'm actually rather fond of forks but don't collect either. Since I do collect cameos, couldn't resist this spoon with the face of Medusa on the bowl and a harpy sitting at the top of the handle. Immediately above the bowl is what appears to be another little grotesque face. The wreath-like ring is movable. Above the spoon is a brooch with the same harpy figure. The longer fork, engraved with a B, natch, is by Rogers. The other with a gryphon rampant on top is, like the spoon, marked 800. Guessing spoon, brooch & shorter fork are souvenirs of Italy.

 

Your Rogers fork is in the Columbia pattern, 1893, designed specifically for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago of the same year.

 

How very nice to know! Thank you. It is ridiculously ornate. I have seen other sorts of things that were Columbian Exposition souvenirs; never occurred to me this could also be from there. Thanks again!