1976.04

Silver Spoon

Purchased. Length 14.3cm; diam. bowl 2.6cm.

The spoon has a plain round bowl with slightly flaring rim. Thin handle of circular section tapering to a point at its end and meeting the bowl in a rat-tail junction. Intact; there are some slight scratches inside the bowl and there is a little wear at the middle of the handle.

The spoon was the only commonly-used eating implement in Rome. It came in two basic versions, a dessert spoon (ligula) with pear-shaped bowl and thick short handle normally ending in a finial, and our type (cochleare) with circular bowl and a somewhat longer handle ending in a point that could be used for extracting shellfish. From the second century AD there are spoons which seem to have been designed to serve both functions, and by the time of the Late Empire the cochleare is rare.

There are useful notes in D. Strong, Greek and Roman Gold and Silver Plate (London 1966) 129, 155-6, 177-8, and 204-6, and in A. Oliver, Silver for the Gods: 800 Years of Greek and Roman Silver (Toledo, Ohio, 1977) under nos 69 and 70 (ligulae and coclearia respectively). See also the examples in D.G. Mitten, Classical Bronzes (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design) (Providence 1975) nos 53 and 57-58. On spoons in antiquity, see E. Riha and W.B. Stern, Die römischen Löffel aus Augst und Kaiseraugst (Basle 1982), C. Johns and T. Potter, The Thetford Treasure (London 1983), H.A. Cahn and A. Kaufmann-Heinimann, Der spätrömische Silberschatz von Kaiseraugst (Derendingen 1984), F. Baratte, “Vaisselle d'argent, souvenirs littéraires et manières de table: l’exemple des cuillers de Lampsaque,” Cahiers Archéologiques 40, 1992, 5-20, and St.R. Hauser, Spätantiken und frühbyzantinischen Silberlöffel. Bemerkungen zur Produktion von Luxusgütern im 5. bis 7. Jahrhundert (JbAChr, Ergänzungsband 9, Münster 1992). There is also a useful hoard of such spoons from County Durham: Britannia 24, 1993, 258-261 (with refs.). See also the century-old article by C.J. Jackson, “The Spoon and its History”, Archaeologia 53, 1892, 107-146, a general survey which is not without its interest.

For a mould for a spoon, see U. Gehrig (ed.), Toreutik und figürliche Bronzen römischer Zeit. Akten der 6. Tagung über Antike Bronzen 13.-17. Mai 1980 in Berlin. Madame G.M. Faider-Feytmans zum Gedächtnis (Berlin 1984) fig. 20a-b (S. Tassinari and F. Burkhalter). On the manufacture of spoons in Roman Britain, there is an interesting report by J. Bayley, “Spoon and Vessel Moulds from Castleford, Yorkshire”, in: S.T.A.M. Mols et al. (eds), Acta of the 12th International Congress on Ancient Bronzes, Nijmegen 1992 (Nederlandse archeologische rapporten 18, Amersfoort 1995) 105-111; also her article in Antiquaries Journal 66, 1986, 382-384. From a different point of view, E. Swift, “Design, Function and Use-Wear in Spoons: reconstructing everyday Roman social practice”, Journal of Roman Archaeology 27, 2014, 203-237.

There is general information on Roman silver-ware and its scholarship in C. Johns, “Research on Roman Silver Plate”, Journal of Roman Archaeology 3, 1990, 28-43, and a good collection of material in L.P. Birolli Stefanelli, L'argento dei Romani. Vasellame da tavola e d’apparato (Rome 1991). Note also Richard Hobbs, “‘Why are there always so many spoons?’ Hoards of Precious Metals in Late Roman Britain”, in: N. Crummy (ed.), Image, Craft and the Classical World: Essays in Honour of Donald Bailey and Catherine Johns (Monographies instrumentum, 29, Montagnac 2005) 197-208, with good bibliography.

               Sum cocleis habilis sed nec minus utilis ouis

               numquid scis, potius cur cocleare uocor?

Martial XIV, 12l

               I am convenient for snails, but no less useful for eggs.

               Do you know why I am rather called a snail-spoon?

(trans. Shackleton Bailey, Loeb)

Purchased from Charles Ede Ltd.

J.R. Green with B. Rawson, Catalogue of Antiquities in the Australian National University, A.N.U. (Canberra, 1981) 101.