What may be well-known by our younger generations as that these were originally used as soup spoons and are still in many European countries. Their value has increased as time goes on, not decreased, with well looked after versions attracting good prices from or for collectors and those by preferred makers doing even better than that.
Early 19C Antique French Sterling Silver Soup Spoon Serving Server Flatware 950 - US dollars $199.00 - Age: 1800-1849, Maker: Leonard Chatenet, Composition: Sterling Silver - currently for sale on ebay
Towle Antique Sterling Silver Dessert/Soup Spoon, Old Colonial Pattern – 1895 (Sold individually) - US $115.00 each - Measures 7 1/4" long by 1 1/2", Each spoon weight 54 grams / 1.9 ounces. The back is stamped, 925/1000, STERLING Pat 1895. Made by Towle, includes their hallmark on the back; Old Colonial pattern - currently for sale
The spoon is the oldest eating utensil we have. Preserved examples of various forms of spoons used by the ancient Egyptians include those composed of ivory, flint, slate and wood; many of them carved with religious symbols. During the Neolithic Ozieri civilization in Sardinia, ceramic ladles and spoons were already in use. In Shang Dynasty China, spoons were made of bone. Early bronze spoons in China were designed with a sharp point, and may have also been used as cutlery. The spoons of the Greeks and Romans were chiefly made of bronze and silver and the handle usually takes the form of a spike or pointed stem. In the early Muslim world, spoons were used for eating soup.
Medieval spoons for domestic use were commonly made of cow horn or wood, but brass, pewter, and latten spoons appear to have been common in about the 15th century.
The full descriptions and entries relating to silver spoons in the inventories of the royal and other households point to their special value and rarity. The earliest English reference appears to be in a will of 1259. In the wardrobe accounts of Edward I for the year 1300 some gold and silver spoons marked with the fleur-de-lis, the Paris mark, are mentioned. One of the most interesting medieval spoons is the coronation spoon used in the anointing of the English sovereign.
A wooden spoon found on board the 16th century carrack Mary Rose
The sets of Apostle Spoons, popular as christening presents in Tudor times, the handles of which terminate in heads or busts of the apostles, are a special form to which antiquarian interest attaches. These originated in early-fifteenth century in Europe as spoons used at table (often produced in sets of thirteen, the thirteenth, showing Jesus, usually being referred to as the 'Saviour' or 'Master' spoon). The British Museum in London has a set from England dating from 1536–7 which has a figure of the Virgin Mary on the thirteenth spoon. By the sixteenth century they had become popular as baptismal presents for godchildren, but were dying out by the 1660s. In some communities this tradition continued until at least the mid-twentieth century.
They first appeared as a bequest in the will of one Amy Brent who, in 1516, bequeathed "XIII sylver spones of J' hu and the XII Apostells."
They are alluded to by the dramatists Ben Johnson, Thomas Middleton, Francis Beaumont, and John Fletcher. Shakespeare refers to it in Henry VIII, Act 5, Scene 3, where Cranmer declines to be sponsor for the infant Elizabeth because of his lack of money. King Henry banters him with "Come, come, my lord, you'ld spare your spoons."
Apostle Spoons - L to R - Andrew, Bartholomew, Mathew, Thomas - photo by Hoppyh
Other forms of earlier English spoon-handles terminate in an acorn, plain knob or a diamond; at the end of the 16th century, the baluster and seal ending becomes common, the bowl being fig-shaped. During The Restoration, the handle becomes broad and flat, the bowl is broad and oval and the termination is cut into the shape known as the hind's foot.
Before about 1700, it was customary for Europeans to bring their own spoons to the table. Spoons were carried as personal property in much the same way as people today carry wallets, key rings, etc.
From about 1700 the place setting became popular, and with it the "table-spoon", "table-fork" and "table-knife". Around the same time the tea-spoon and dessert-spoon first appeared, and the table-spoon was reserved for eating soup. The 18th century witnessed a proliferation of different sorts of spoons, including the mustard-spoon, salt-spoon, coffee-spoon, and soup-spoon.
In the 18th century, the tablespoon became an unofficial unit of the Apothecaries' system of measures, equal to 4 drams or 1⁄2 fl oz. It was more commonly known by the Latin cochleare majus (abbreviated cochl. maj.) or, in Apothecaries' notation, f℥ss or f℥ß.
Today the soup spoon is the size of a dessert spoon (i.e., smaller than a tablespoon) but with a deeper, more circular bowl for holding liquid. Modern soup spoons are usually stainless steel or silver-plated, but in the past wooden and horn spoons were more common. The idea of including a separate soup spoon in a table setting originated in the eighteenth century, when the bowl shapes varied widely, deep or shallow, oval, pointed, egg-shaped or circular. Spoon shapes became more standardised in nineteenth-century silverware.
Antique French Pewter Soup Spoon Spoons Set Of Two old cutlery flatware silverware circa 1800's / English Shop - AU$150.90. Sourced: in Normandy, France
In the late 19th century UK, the dessert-spoon and soup-spoon began to displace the table-spoon as the primary implement for eating from a bowl, at which point the name "table-spoon" took on a secondary meaning as a much larger serving spoon. At the time the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was published in 1928, "tablespoon" (which by then was no longer hyphenated) still had two definitions in the UK: the original definition (eating spoon) and the new definition (serving spoon). [1.]
Victorian and Edwardian era tablespoons used are often 25 ml or sometimes larger. All those who love period dramas or costume drama movies may have seen characters delicately sipping soup from the side of these gigantic spoons, their use in such films or television series proving a certain authenticity to the historic period or at least some research has been done.
As their worth, even for sentimental reasons, is sure to continue to rise, they are well worth looking out for if you visit Red Cross or Opportunity shops or hold on to those you have been handed by mum of grandma - they will never deteriorate as long as you look afetr them and will come in handy next time you host your own period drama dinner!
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Soup by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1865
