Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SPOON (O. Eng. span, a chip or splint...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 733 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SPOON (O. Eng. span, a chip or splinter of See also:wood, cf. Du. spoon, Ger. Spahn, in same sense, probably related to Gr. r4 v, See also:wedge)  , a table See also:implement, bowl-shaped at the end, with a handle varying in length and See also:size . From the derivation of the word the earliest See also:northern See also:European See also:spoon would seem to have been a chip or splinter of See also:wood; the See also:Greek KoyXt4tov (See also:Lat. cochleare) points to the See also:early and natural use of shells, such as are still used by See also:primitive peoples . Examples are preserved of the various forms of spoons used by the See also:ancient Egyptians of See also:ivory, See also:flint, See also:slate and wood, many of them carved with the symbols of their See also:religion . The spoons of the Greeks and See also:Romans were chiefly made of See also:bronze and See also:silver, and the handle usually takes the See also:form of a spike or pointed See also:stem . There are many examples in the See also:British Museum from which the form of the various types can be ascertained, the See also:chief points of difference being found in the junction of the bowl with the handle . See also:Medieval spoons for domestic use were commonly made of See also:horn or wood, but See also:brass, See also:pewter and " See also:latten " spoons appear to have been See also:common about the r 5th See also:century . The full descriptions and entries relat See also:ing to silver spoons in the inventories of the royal and other households point to their See also:special value and rarity . The earliest See also:English reference appears to be in a will of 1259 . In the See also:ward-robe accounts of See also:Edward I. for the See also:year 1300 some See also:gold and silver spoons marked with the fleur-de-lis, the See also:Paris See also:mark, are mentioned . One of the most interesting medieval spoons is the See also:coronation spoon used in the See also:anointing of the See also:sovereign, an See also:illustration of which is given under See also:REGALIA . The sets ofspoons 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 See also:interest attaches (see APOSTLE SPOONS) . The earlier English spoon-handles terminate in an See also:acorn, See also:plain knob or a See also:diamond; at the end of the 16th century the See also:baluster and See also:seal ending becomes common, the bowl being " fig-shaped." At the Restoration the handle becomes broad and See also:flat, the bowl is broad and See also:oval and the termination is cut into the shape known as the pied de biche, or See also:hind's See also:foot .

In the first See also:

quarter of the 18th century the bowl becomes narrow and elliptical, with a See also:tongue or " See also:rat's tail " down the back, and the handle is turned up at the end . The See also:modern form, with the tip of the bowl narrower than the See also:base and the rounded end of the handle turned down, came into use about 176o . See C . J . See also:Jackson, " The Spoon and its See also:History," in Archaeologia (1892), vol. liii.; also Cripps, Old English See also:Plate .

End of Article: SPOON (O. Eng. span, a chip or splinter of wood, cf. Du. spoon, Ger. Spahn, in same sense, probably related to Gr. r4 v, wedge)
[back]
SPONTOON (Fr. esponton, Ital. spontone, from Lat. p...
[next]
SPOONBILL

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.