During the early Christian and medieval eras spoons were in common use. Saxon and Early English examples are to be seen in the English museums today.
The medieval spoon was of silver, horn or wood, etc. On the Continent, silver spoons were made much earlier than in England. In Italy they were in use probably long before 1000 A. D.
During the Tudor and Stuart reigns a fashionable gift at christenings was the apostle, so called because at the end of the handle was the figure of an apostle. Sometimes a thirteenth spoon was added, called the “Master” spoon, because it bore the figure of Christ. A complete set was a very valuable gift, and could only be afforded by the rich.
Folks of limited means used copper, pewter, latten or alchemy spoons; the latter two materials being somewhat like brass, examples of which are sometimes found in this country in the graves of Indians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, showing their intercourse with early English traders.
At this period the stems were hexagonal, ending in an acorn, a bird or a ball, while the bowls were fig shape. Later the stems were baluster shape with a seal top, and at the time of the Commonwealth the stem became flat and perfectly plain. These latter are called “Puritan” spoons.
Naturally, the early New England colonists brought with them the spoons they had used at home, and the early Colonial silversmiths followed closely the designs which they found at hand or which were later imported from England. In fact, within a few years after a certain type had become popular in the mother country, it was adopted in this country as the fashionable style. It is, therefore, easy to date, approximately, an American-made spoon, because it follows so closely in style the dated or hall-marked English spoon.
During the last quarter of the seventeenth century, both in England and America, spoons were generally of a style now known as rat-tail. From the end of the handle, down the back of the bowl to about the middle, ran a ridge shaped like a rat-tail. This is sometimes thought to have been an attempt to strengthen the spoon, but its use must have been purely ornamental, for it adds little strength to these strongly made spoons. Sometimes the rat-tail was shaped like a long V and grooved, while on each side were elaborate scrolls. The bowl was perfectly oval in shape, while the end of the handle was notched or trifid.
Latten Spoons
One found in an Indian grave at Deerfield, Mass., and the other in an Indian grave at Hadley, Mass. Period of about 1660. Actual size, 6 inches and 61⁄4 inches.