Featured Spoon

Dear forum members.

I ask for help and opinions about one item (a spoon).
I will only say that the spoon was bought in Irkutsk from the descendants of a famous navigator as part of a collection from the 17th-18th centuries. In my opinion, the spoon is approximately from the 18th century, maybe earlier. Of all the items, the spoon seemed very unusual. If the other objects are clear to me and I know which carving centers (areas) they belong to, then I’m at a dead end with the spoon!

I contacted the Alaska Museum, but they were confused, they had never seen anything like it.

The spoon is made of mammoth tusk and silver. There is an interesting ornament on the back. An ornament among peoples is like a signature and it should mean something, but I don’t yet know what an ornament means. It seemed to me that the spoon could belong to Alaska (Aleuts, Indians).
The spoon also has an interesting feature, the bowl itself is turned to the right (this is clearly visible in the photographs). I don’t know why this was done. I have not found anything similar. At this stage, I am waiting for additional information on this spoon from the heirs.

What people does this spoon belong to, in your opinion? Why such peculiarities?

I would be glad to hear any opinions!

 

I wonder if the silver is a later addition. The end may have broken off, and replaced with a classic European spoon end.

I will tag some people who may be able to help: @DragonflyWink , @2manybooks .

 

I agree, AJ...'tho I know nothing about Alaskan cultures...or carved spoons, for that matter.

The silver is pinned to the ivory in a straightforward manner reminiscent of European craft. The 'cuff' that covers the end of the handle appears to have been mated to the tabular end of another spoon or fork; I can see a 'peak' at the tip that is part of a common design element in tableware; an' the shoulder of that tip, at the joint with the cuff, seems otherwise incongruous unless incidental to the creation of the a repair for that specific spoon.

Someone used skill an' good material to preserve a useful tool...a family treasure, perhaps. If only it could talk...

 

Can you tell us who the navigator was? It might help us to know where he had travelled. It does look like ivory, but how did you identify it as mammoth ivory?

 

I think I see the sharp angles of mammoth schreger cross-hatching at the bottom of the bowl in this photo:

 

I am not so much doubting mammoth ivory (although it can take rather precise measurements), as asking @ParisLS how he learned that information (who told him this).

 

It's old for sure, and I agree that the spoon end is a good repair to a family treasure. It looks like a beaver tail. Mammoth wouldn't surprise me a bit, given where this came from. It had to be a big enough piece to make a spoon, and fossil ivory is harder than non-fossil and would hold up better. I also don't think whale teeth or walrus tusks are big enough. (top of brain on not much sleep recall, so iffy info.)

 

think again.....

 

Thank you all for your answers. I know a lot about bones myself, and I also went to the museum where they looked at the bone and said that the Schreger lines indicate that it is a mammoth. And the region where it was found also indicates this.

 

Unfortunately I can't remove this tip from the spoon to examine it. But I really want to do it, because the spoon is very interesting)) but it is very well made and the pin sits tightly...

 

I'm not really sure that the spoon was broken, but I can't deny it at this point. If there was a repair, it was most likely in the 18th-19th century, at least judging by the tip.

 

I would say fortunately, Paris...Please resist that urge!

 

I also ask for advice: should I carefully remove the tip? And look first, so to speak, at what's underneath?) I know a jeweler, I think it's possible to do this carefully and then put everything back in place...what do you think?

 

Again, if we talk about the fact that this is a repair, then the family where the spoon was always remembers it like this and in this condition throughout the 20th century. It turns out that if it was broken, then a very long time ago... then the question is: what period is the spoon? It is obvious that the spoon was used for a long time. Judging by the defects and cracks of the bowl itself... it was a very long time ago.

 

nothing here speaks to me of any 1st Nations connection.

 

if it's mammoth ivory...... the defects are cracking are inherent in the material from the get go....
It was already ancient when it was first carved.... so wear by aged use... is suspect at best !

 

Can only ask if the collection was hidden away after the 18th century, so never added to after that, but being inherited insinuates that it was in family hands, and not stashed away in some museum vault.

Can't say I see any obvious connection to Alaska, and frankly, sometimes a decorative motif is just that, without tribal meaning.

To my eye, the spoon's bowl appears to have considerable wear from use over many years, would especially expect that if a fairly large spoon used for stirring and scraping when cooking or serving. No size given, but might guess if your hand is an average male's, the spoon is perhaps around 9"/23cm long?

Perhaps their response will shed more light.

Have very little doubt that it's mammoth ivory, and since Irkutsk is mentioned as where it was bought, have to wonder why Alaska would be a more likely place of origin than Siberia.

Personally, it looks to me like a repair, the 'tipped' element at the top back of the spoon commonly found on 'Old English' and 'Fiddle' patterns from the mid-late 18th century onward, regardless, the silver could have been added at any time. My own guess would be of Yakut origin, similar to those at a Finnish museum, posted below:






~Cheryl

 

Thank you for your reply.

The size of the spoon is almost 22 cm.

Regarding the ornament: I have been delving into this issue for a long time and decided the following... maybe this is not an ornament at all!!! And the image of Indian dwellings? Why Indians... because the Yakuts never placed dwellings next to each other.
Under the silver detail you can see a continuation of some kind of drawing!
Look closely at the carved drawing... these are dwellings in the foreground and background. I think this is a true discovery.

What do you think, dear forum members?

Now I want to penetrate under the silver detail even more.