Baluster top spoon

Unknown

first quarter 17th century · Silver · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The custom of presenting a silver birth spoon (geboortelepel) to a child at his christening gave rise to the expression "to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth." Cherished as family heirlooms, such spoons could be inscribed with the name or initials of the recipient and his birth date. The style was often highly localized; those made in Zierikzee, an important fishing and trading city in the coastal province of Zeeland, usually have a baluster-shaped finial, square stem, and fig-shaped bowl with engraved decoration.

Artist

Unknown

Date

first quarter 17th century

Medium

Silver

Culture

Dutch, Zierikzee

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Samuel P. Avery, 1897