Spoon, carved beechwood, Norway, 1800-1900
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1800-1900
Folk crafts persisted in the isolated rural farms across Norway, where spoons made of wood or horn were a daily necessity and skills were passed down the generations. Spoons with detailed carving on the handle such as this might have been carved at home as gifts or purchased from professional carvers.
This example has the floral and scrolling decoration influenced by the Baroque style, which became embedded in the Norwegian folk tradition. Wide-bowled spoons were a traditional shape for eating porridge or gruel, although only the tip of the spoon was used. A Norwegian saying was that one would become a 'big-mouth' or 'loud-mouth' from eating with a wooden spoon. A large-bowled wooden spoon with a short upward-curving handle, carved and pierced with flowers and scrolls.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 4
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
The spoon was probably made in mid-Norway, between 1800 and 1900. It was given to the Museum by Miss Henrietta Close OBE, who donated a collection of Norwegian items (W.70 to 76-1921 and Circ. 189 to 194-1921). Her mother, Mrs Ellinor C.L. Close, had earlier given a set of Norwegian bridalwear collected by her husband in Norway in the 1880s.
Spoons with large bowls like this were for eating porridge or gruel and only the end or tip was intended to be used. Spoons for everyday use were carved with a design on the handle, and those for special occasions such as weddings were frequently incised with patterns inside the bowl.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Hardwood, possibly beech, carved.
- Dimensions
- Length: 19.05 cm; Width: 5.3975 cm (Dimensions from departmental register: Length 7 1/2in, Width 2 1/8in)
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- Norway
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- vam-O370755
- Museum object name
- Spoon
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- W.22-1925
- Museum system number
- O370755
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.