Carved Wood Serving Spoon with Figural Bowl
Modern — early 21st century
- Material
- Wood
- Use
- Serving
- Century
- 21st century CE
- Size
- Wumbo
- Provenance
- Owner's collection
Dimensions2 measurements
- Overall length
- 28 cm
- Overall width
- 8.5 cm
Catalogue Note
A handcrafted wooden spoon of generous proportions, turned from what appears to be a figured or spalted hardwood displaying characteristic grain patterning and natural colour variation. The broad, gently concave bowl tapers gracefully to a slender handle of rounded section. The wood's medial figuring—likely the result of age, fungal colonisation, or careful selection—provides visual interest throughout. Surfaces are smooth and well-finished, suggesting either machine or accomplished hand-finishing. This is the sort of piece favoured for serving or scooping, showing honest wear consonant with use.
Spoon Lore
Wood spoons, among humanity's oldest eating implements, remained the primary flatware for peasant populations well into the industrial era; they were cheaper than metal and imparted no metallic flavour to food, making them particularly valued in kitchens where wooden bowls and vessels dominated.
From the collection of
Tess Silverton