Antique Spoons: A Collector's Guide (Collector's Guide Series)

Dust jacket notes: Spoons are the oldest of table utensils, among the commonest of objects - and also among the most beautiful. Because they are plentiful, it is relatively easy to start a collection - of English Victorian spoons perhaps, or the less coveted art nouveau spoons of the twentieth century. But once started, your collection can be as specialised and as exotic as you choose: solid silver spoons, Russian enamelled spoons or rare American moustache spoons. Antique Spoons: A Collector's Guide offers a survey of the development of the spoon in Europe, starting with the ancient world (you may yet be lucky enough to find an Egyptian, Greek or Roman spoon that has not made its way into a museum) and progressing through mediaeval times to the more accessible Renaissance and modern periods. With his enthusiasm for the fun of collecting and his delight in the details that distinguish a piece as especially rare and beautiful, Victor Houart's joyous approach to the subject is highly infectious. He shows the reader how to recognise, date and place a find, and he also explains something of the way each type of spoon was made and used. Antique Spoons: A Collector's Guide is richly illustrated with photographs in both colour and black and white, providing clear and beautiful examples of the differing styles and materials. For those interested in serious collecting, it contains useful glossaries on the main specialist categories of spoons and on the hallmarks of each country and period. Would-be collectors will find the book an excellent introduction to a subject that has as yet remained outside the mainstream of collecting.