Spoons Glorious Spoons

Antique treen spoons come in all sorts of sizes but basically there were two bowl shapes circular and oval. They are the earliest of our eating utensils and before spoons were invented it is thought that people used shells to scoop up their food and then attached a wooden or bone handle to it hence the spoon was invented. The word spoon means a chip of wood carved from a larger piece and the Anglo-Saxon word 'spon' means a sliver of wood. The wooden spoon was and still is a flat or hollowed out splinter of wood. Up until the 1700's spoons were very personal items and were carried around tucked into a belt or hung from a belt, (the looks you would get today if you tucked a wooden spoon in your belt.). Some folded for ease when travelling but are quite rare.

A few suggestions for antique treen spoons to look out for are the Welsh cawl spoon with characteristic oval bowls, some have tapered handles known as rats tails and could be stuck into a piece of peat beside the fireplace conjures up a nice image!

The dolphin shaped handle spoon from Caernarvonshire with an upturned handle and a thickening of the handle in the centre.

Watch out for treen spoons with handles curved to the side, left handed spoons are very rare.

And of course the Welsh love spoon if you can find one. These are very collectable and worth a separate blog, interestingly they were carved by men for the lady they desired if she accepted the spoon they would start a courtship- a separate blog to come on these.

Antique treen spoons hung together make a great display, often the spoons have picked up a lovely patina particularly the dairy spoons where years of being in contact with butter and cream give them a milky appearance. Happy collecting the great things with spoons is that they can turn up anywhere!!!