I recently read several articles in antique publications that indicated a large and growing market for Judaica collectibles.
Silver has been part of the Jewish way of life since before the Bible was written. The Bible often refers to silver and gold objects and even indicates that the Ark of the Covenant was made of these precious metals. Silver Magazine often uses the quote "and the words of the Lord are flawless like silver refined in the furnace of clay purified seven times". Psalm 12:6
The use of silver for religious articles is very well documented and was very prevalent in the 18th and 19th centuries. A number of museums have extensive collections of these items. One of the first and most famous silversmiths in our colonial history is Myer Myers who produced a number of beautiful silver objects for religious ceremonies.
We do not find many silver spoons related to Judaism from the great souvenir spoon movement of the 1890's, however. For some reason, the Jewish population was not interested in silver commemorative spoons at that time in history. Since the State of Israel was established in 1946, there have been hordes of tourists and silver spoons are one of the collectibles which they brought home with them. Most of these spoons are from the post WW2 time period.
Typical silver sterling souvenir spoon from Israel showing the Lion of David at the finial and an embossed picture of the walled city of Jerusalem in the bowl
Cute spoon with a picture of a Menorah at the finial. I thought that the serrated leaf bowl was quite nice.
Amsterdam had a very large thriving population of Jews before WW2. One of its most famous buildings is the Portug-Israel Synagogue which was established by Jews fleeing the Portugese persecutions by the Catholic church. This building is reputed to be beautiful. This unusual and rare spoon has a cast picture of the "synagoge" in the bowl with the Hebrew date of 5435. The finial shows a mother bird protecting her brood.
The spoon you are referring to was produced in 1925 to
commemorate the inauguration of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam
250
years earlier in 1675. It was made by A. Molenberg& Zn., in
Groningen and
measures 13 cm. The letters KKTT mean Kahal Kadosj Talmud Torah. (thank
you Kenneth)
Gemstone spoons from Israel may be seen in the Gemstone spoon exhibit which you can access from the main index.
Gem stone spoons from Israel are in the gem stone exhibit