Skip to content
Pitt Rivers Museum
AboutHire the MuseumNewsletterUniversity of Oxford

1907.31.18

Wooden spoon with a leaf and flower pattern painted in red & black. [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 24/2/2006]

On display

1907.31.18

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

Terms and Conditions

If you wish to order a high-resolution image and/or licence its use for print or web publication, exhibition, film, promotional product or any other use, whether in the academic or commercial sector of any print run, then please visit photographic services.

Collection type
Object
Description
Wooden spoon with a leaf and flower pattern painted in red & black. [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 24/2/2006]
Geographical reference
Russia
Europe > Eastern Europe > Russia
[Moscow]
Cultural groups
European Russian
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1907
Date collected
By 1907
Acquisition information
Donated: 07/1907 Found unentered: 2006
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Material Lacquer Varnish, Process Lacquered Varnished
Dimensions
Width: max 52 mm, Length: max 151 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1907.31.18
Research and responses

Related Documents File - Letter dated June 26 from Barbara Freire-Marreco to Balfour "Here is the second spoon series, as complete as I can make it from Mrs Sidgwick's present stock. The spoons are those in daily use among the peasants in the Moscow district, especially for eating soup from the wooden lacquered family bowl. Miss Volkovski says that the hand represents the position of the hand for crossing oneself in the Orthodox Church, [drawing] the necessarily oblique position of the thumb (if you wish to bring your thumb to a point near the top joint of your fingers) being exaggerated in the carving. But she does not know it commonly on spoons, she says. On the other hand, a lady whom I met last night thinks that she remembers such a hand carved on the handles of salad spoons in India. ?Asiatic influence in Muscovy, or backwash from Muscovy into Asia along the trade route? I return the Catalogue with many thanks…" Also a small note "I have since learnt from Mr Pogosky that the hand on the spoons generally represents the Saviour's Hand in blessing." [EB 24/10/2001]

The 7 leaf-pattern spoons are entries [1907.31.1 - 7]. The 10 Moscow spoons are entries 1907.31.8 - 17. The carved hand spoon is assigned to entry [1907.31.1]. [CF 7/12/99]

Please note that Mrs Sidgwick could refer to Charlotte Sidgwick, wife of Arthur Sidgwick (1840 - 1920), Fellow and Tutor at Corpus Christi College 1882 - 1902 [L.Ph 26/3/2004]

Search terms: Food and Drink, Picture and Graphic Art, Spoon, Food Accessory