any idea what these are

metal dragon things with shells as tongues

 

Serving spoons perhaps? They are very cool! How big are they? Are there any marks/writing on the metal anywhere?

 

no markings , what they are sitting on is a record mailer so about 12"

 

Given their size I probably would call them serving spoons. To me they look like they're made out of cast iron? I think I see some little bits of green patina here and there... could be just the lighting in the pictures. If they are cast iron a magnet should be attracted to them. This is kind of a wild guess but I would guess maybe they are Korean?

 

Obviously these are not snuff spoons, but have a look at this one on Ruby Lane. The handle design seems widely used. We had another spoon with a shell bowl just recently, but not Asian. Western shell spoons seem generally to be souvenir items. These look strong enough to be used for something, although not convinced that something is as spoons. The way they can sit like that means they could also be used as little bowls. Going by shape & thickness, could be mussel shells.

 

Specifically for serving something such as:

Eye of newt and toe of frog
Wool of bat and tongue of dog...

 

Bubble, bubble.... Last time we toiled & troubled on something like this is here:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/abalone-fish-ladle-1863-any-information.30651/#post-405658

 

Caviar? I know they are rather large for that, but shell is the go-to material for serving it.

 

just as stumped as me then , they are not made of cast iron i just checked with a magnet no attraction

 

Any chance they are really, really, really tarnished silver

 

Pretty much. I'm going to say souvenir/decorative with some kind of base metal handles.

 

so with this i just got a bit of vinegar and cleaned under one of the tongues and yep looks like your right !

 

that's a good start but you'll need to either find some marks...or do a silver test to know for reasonably sure..

 

going to give them a good clean tomorrow and look , and how do you do a silver test? or would i be better taking them somewhere to be looked at

 

If you don't have a siver testing kit.....then yes...have a jeweler look at them.....but 1st look closely for any hallmarks or makers marks..

 

Those are so cool ! Id bet they are indeed silver. I vote serving spoons as well.

 

Oh no, they're quoting the Scottish play again.

 

They are absolutely gorgeous. Maybe @Asian Fever knows more, but we would still love to see them polished, and if there are any marks...
Be careful you don't break the shells when polishing them.

 

Your lovely spoons are VERY nice ...
Maybe made for serving rice ?? ...
Joy ..