Unknown
(German, Bavaria, Ingolstadt)
Spoon
15th century
maple, silver, enamel
4 x 2.13 x 0.5 in
10.16 x 5.40 x 1.27 cm
Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
71.55
This spoon, made from a single piece of spotted maple wood, displays the arms of the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt in blue translucent enamel on its silver terminal. The fig-shaped bowl and short handle reflect the later 15th-century style; however, the spoon’s overall shape has changed very little from the earliest known example, which dates to the 6th century BC. Wood was the primary material used to make spoons (the English word spoon derives from the German span, meaning chip or shaving).
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