The morning call., 1891-01-25

verses closed about bright spoon hardly
cold from the mint, witch" spoon gotten
out III this faddiSh year of our Lord 1891 in
the old town of Salem, in commemOration of
the events OF the year 1892 Beyond the
witch spoon was a beauty made of the
lovely old silver of Berne, with a pear
shaped bowl aud bear affixed to the ham
die, and beyond this plain gold spoon of
simple modern design and no especial inter
est beyond the fact that il was bought in
Glasgow in one of those driving rains the
natives call kindly miSts" in memory of an
aurora borealis display witnessed ID the
Scotch highlands. A spoon that looked as
II fairy's lace handkerchief had been
folded about the end of its handle had
tagged to it a pretty bit of Viennese romance
Of love and sorrow while a spoon with a
snort, straight stem cut off obliqueiy as by
one blow OF knife was attributed to that
popular landmark OF history, the time of
Oliver Cromwell. All the spoons approx
mated the regular coffee size though
even here considerable latitude was allowed.
| aud In other particulars the only law was
diversity.
The object of the woman who gives herself
| over to spoon-eolleeting is to fill out harIe-
| quin set, quaint, Characteristic of the places
from which its members come; ANTIQUE. if
possible, and suited to some one purpose
She then proceeds to a different size and So
forward. II is, of course, evident to the
meanest understanding that there is some
tmng queer IN this rich supply of the plate
OF our 1OrDears suddenly springIng up to
answer the demands of their descendants;
ana IL may as we'll be confessed in conf
dence that not one ancient spoon in a thou
sand Is genuinely old. An apostle spoon.
Tor example, Is worth not less than SlT5
ard the number of them in existence can
be reckoned on the fingers; yet any an
tiqultles man in Nuremberg or Amsterdam
Will ofer you half dozen to choose from
at 50 or 81. The only real one in all pro ba-
pity winch has lately changed hands was
bestowed at little christ ening party, at
which | was present, in London last Sen
temher, In unique revival of an ancient Gus
tom by Ellen Terry on a sturdy, kicking
little godsOn.
This was genuine spoon of the time of
EilZabeth aud we turned away from the
Whlte-robed baby to look at the nail mark of
the leopaIds head and the date 1887 stamped
inside the bowl. The yOungster should grow
into an upright, downright sort of an indi-
Vlduai, Tor his christening spoon was heavy
ana honest looking, with round handle
firm and solid as a pillar ending in a figure
OF st, Peter Identified by his key.
Spoon collections are new ideas, and vet
there are already several that contain note
worthy curiosties. AT an afternoon tea
served some days since in the studio of Ben
lhmln Constant, who is painting society
beauties in New York this winter, the Rus
sian tea tumblers in their Russian silver
frames were supplemented by Russian tea
spoons from the silverSmithS of Moscow and
ST. Petersburg aud far Siberian cities. an
tique as Russia counts antiquity, modern
bar0aric and yet harmonious in their gor.
geousness. No two were of the same de-
sign, no two apparently of quiet the same
period. Many had a wealth of curious de-
tail work In gold wire pressed on silver sur-
faces in wreathing and twisting patterns
Others are enameled in Oriental looking
blues and reds, and all gave strange mixed