I came across this very interesting
looking silver piece so I bought it. Later I
discovered that this utensil is called a "Claret spoon". In
Osterberg's book
"Sterling Silver Flatware for Dining Elegance", on page 152 he discusses
these unusual spoons. He says that claret spoons were made from the
1880's
through about 1910. The original use is unclear, but some people think
that it
was to pick up fruit from the bottom of tall cut-glass claret pitchers.
Others
say that the spoon was used to place fruit on individual dishes after
it had
been retrieved from deep china pitchers. He expresses doubt as to their
functionality and as to why they were named after the red wine which is
allowed to sit for extended periods. This was not one of the more
popular
types of flatware produced, so in today's market they are relatively
rare
The
spoon as you can see is very long(11.5") and the handle is attached
to the bowl with a rattail. The handle is round its entire length and
tapers to a point under the bowl. It is marked sterling with a
maker
name of Delmas. I have been unable to find any definitive information
on this maker in my books, but a web search found a silver trophy which
had also been manufactured by a Leonard Delmas. I assume that it is the
same person.
I
suspect that this claret spoon is from after 1900 as it is more the
hand crafted "arts and crafts" style rather than the pattern pieces
which are shown in the book. The finial is a golden star burst design
which I was told that it was acid tested as low quality gold. The
finial is "in the round" and the reverse
has the same design
This
very long (11.5") claret spoon is in the arts and crafts
tradition. It has a polished red stone (I think it is jasper). It
is marked sterling with a maker of V. Shraub. I have a hard
time visualizing what this spoon could be used for as it is
very thin and consequently not very strong. It is interesting, however