The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-01-25

The present fad is to set out ones board
with odd spoons altogether, and to quicken
the tagging chat with silver souvenirs of
as many cities, as many widely removed
quarters of the globe and the epcchs of as
many moldering kings and ancient patrons
of art as ones purse or ones luck or ones
travels will provide. At a little breakfast
given to Mrs. Charles Dudley Warner be-
fore the family of the genial humorist left
for the sunny shores of Italy one bright lit
tie woman stirred her coffee and her wit
with tiny, Strengthening, discolored
spoon shaped like the leaf of the willow
tree, and said to have served some love-
lorn maid or weeping matron to empty
perfumed liquors into the lachrymatory
into which also fell her tears.
Next this classic relic, the fingers of
dark, pale, clear skinned woman who writes
verses closed about bright spoon hardly
cold from the mint, a witch" spoon gotten
out in 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 beauty made of the
lovely old silver of Rerne with a pear
shaped bowl and bear affixed to the han
de- and beyond this plain gold spoon of
simple and modern design and no especial
interest beyond the fact that it was bought
in Glasgow in one of those driving rains
the natives cali kindly mists'' in memory
OF an aurora borealis display witnessed in
the Scotch Highlands. Aspoon that looked
as if a fairy's lace handkerchief had been
folded about the end Of its handle, had
tagged to it pretty bit of Viennese ro-
nance of love and sorrow, while a spoon
with short, straight stem, cut off OBJ
liquely as by one blow of knife, was at
trlbuted to that popular landmark of his
tory, the time of Oliver Cromwell. All the
spoons appropriated the regular coffee size.
though even here considerable latitude was
allowed, and in other particulars the only
law was diversity
The object of the woman who gives her
self over to spoon-c collecting is to fill out
harlequin set, quaint, characteristic of the
places from which its members come, an
tique If possible and suited to some one pur-
pose; she then proceeds to different size
and so forward. Tits of course evident to the
meanest understanding that there is some
thing queer in this rich supply of the plate
OF our forebears suddenly springing up to
answer the demands of their descendants.
and it may as well be confessed in conf
dence that not one ancient spoon in thou
sano Is genuinely old. An apostle spoon.
for example, is worth not less than S275,
and the number of them in existence can
be reckoned on the fingers; yet any antiqui-
ties man in Nuremberg or Amsterdam will
of1er you half a dozen to choose from at
three or fonr dollars. The only real one in
all probability which has lately changed
hands was bestowed at little christening
party at which l was present in London
last September, in unique revival of an an
cient custom, by Ellen Terry on a sturdy.
kicking little godson.
This was genuine spoon of the time of
Elizabeth and we turned away from the
white robed baby to look at the hall mark
of the leopard's head and the date l5S7
stamped inside the bowl. The youngster
should grow into an upright, downright
sort of individual, for his christening spoon
was heavy and honest looking, with round
handle firm and solid as pillar ending in
figure OF St. Peter identified by his key.
Spoon collections are new ideas, and vet
there are already several that contain note
worthy curiosities. At an afternoon tea
served some days since in the studio of
Benjamin Constant, who is painting our So
ciety beauties in New York this winter. the
Russian tea tumblers in their Russian
silver frames were supplemented bv Rus.
sian tea spoons from the silver smiths of
Moscow and st. Petersburg and far Sibe-
rian cities, antique as Russia counts an
tiquity, modern, barbaric and yet harmo-
NOUS in their gorgeousness. No two were
OF the same design, no two apparently of
quite the same period. Many had a wealth
OF curious detail work in gold wire pressed
on the silver surfaces in wreathinp and
twisting patterns Others were ename]ed
In Oriental looking blues and reds. and ali
gave strange mixed suggestions at once of
the utmost delicacy and yet. Of. clumsiness.