General Overview
Before it was customary in setting a table with cutlery or flatware was introduced in the 17th century spoons and knives were personnel possessions everyone had their own spoon and fork. It was normally only the rich who could afford silver flatware. To have silver flatware was a great advantage over any other type of flatware as germs cannot grow on Silver. Spoons have been used since before the Roman times and because of this more spoons have survived than any other type of flatware.
The humble spoon is the most personal of all the pieces of silver flatware. In medieval times the custom of giving a silver spoon as a baptism present started. These spoons were highly treasured by the recipient and were carried throughout their lifetime. This is where the phrase being “born with a silver spoon in your mouth” comes from as depending on what quality of the silver spoon you had, showed everyone the social significance as wealth and status were linked to the spoon you carried.
Prior to the 16th century the spoon was used to eat food with unless you were eating sweetmeats or desserts when a fork would be used. However in the 16th century the fork began to be taken up by continental Europe. This practice was picked up by Charles II when he was in exile in France and brought to England when the monarchy was restored in 1660. From the early 18th century sets of matching silver flatware was being made in a vast arrange of patterns.
Styles of Silver Flatware
Old English pattern silver flatware is a simple pattern where the handle remains undecorated and the terminal features a central inward point. This type of pattern has been used from the mid 18th century and is a derivative of the Hanoverian pattern
Fiddle pattern is the most commonly used patterns from the 19th Century; however you can find examples of this pattern from about 1760’s. The fiddle pattern is so named because the handle resembles that of a violin. There are variations in this pattern called Fiddle and Thread, plus Fiddle Thread and Shell.
King’s is an elaborate pattern with waisted sides and features a scallop shell and anthemion motifs which became popular in the regency period. Similar to the King’s is the Queen’s pattern which is very similar with even more elaborate, with a convex shell motif. There are also even more diverse styles all very similar such as Victoria, Albert, King’s husk and Coberg patterns which are all basically the same with minor differences.
Flatware embellishment continued with the Bead pattern where a continuous border of beaded decoration was around the edges. Other styles such as Albany, Onslow, Lily, Sandringham and Dubarry pattern became popular in the 19th and 20th century.
Another feature which became very popular with flatware was Bright-cut engraving this is where facets are cut into the surface leaving shiny appearance instead of normal engraved lines. It is normally found on the Old English pattern and the Celtic Point variant as these were more suited to the Bright-cut Engraving.
Early Silver Spoons
One of the earliest types of spoon was the apostle spoon dating from around the 15th Century; however these spoons have continued to be made right up to the present day. The first apostle spoons were larger than the ones made later on about the same size as a dessert spoon and on the end of the handle of each one was an apostle.
Other types of early spoons were the seal top spoon which had a flat end just like a seal but this was not what they were used for they date from the 16th and 17th Century. Then you can have a Slip top spoon which had a hexagonal stem which was cut off at an angle at the end these types of spoon date from the 17th Century.
The silver Trefid spoon dates from about 1660 to 1700 has a flat stem which the end is divided into three sections. This type of spoon was superseded by the Dog Nosed spoon in 1700 which although very similar to the trefid has rounded distinctive terminal. Both the Trefid and the Dog Nosed silver spoons come in various variations such as fancy back, picture back. Lace back, rat-tail and fancy rat-tail designs on the back of the bowl.
Once these spoons became less popular they were over taken by the Old English pattern and all the other different styles mentioned above. The silver spoon was the most popular choice for collectors to collect due to the fact there are lots of different types, styles and variations to collect and it is the oldest of all the silver flatware.
Different types of Silver Spoon
There are lots of different types of spoons such as Serving spoons which were first used in the mid 17th Century but became more popular in the 1700’s. They are medium to large in size and normally over 12 inches long, used to serve vegetables etc from serving dishes to the plate.
Berry Spoons are normally old Georgian spoons which the Victorians later decorated with highly embossed fruit. They are mostly gilt in finish or highly polished and were used to serving fruit. Soup spoons, Dessert spoons, Tea spoons, Table spoons, Gravy spoons, Basting spoon, Hash spoon, Mash spoon, Fruit spoons, Salt spoon, Coffee spoons and grapefruit spoons are all self explanatory. You can also find Marrow spoons or scoops these were used for getting the marrow from bones. Caddy spoons which were used in tea caddies. Sifter spoons which were used for sifting sugar or castor suger.
As you can see there are lots of different types of spoons you can collect add to that you can also get silver and enamel spoons. Spoons are easy to collect because their are so many different types add to this the fact that spoons were the first piece of flatware used by everyone there are lots still about. Another great thing about collecting spoons is that there is normally a spoon for every type of budget.
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