Lot Details
Lot 28
George II Sterling Silver Marrow Spoon and a George IV Sterling Silver Marrow Scoop
First Edward Bennett, London, 1735, the second William Chawner, London, 1824
The first with stylized shell join to bowl, the second with engraved heraldic crest. Length of each 8 3/4 inches, total approximately 3 ounces.
Eating the marrow of roasted bones has recently returned to vogue in American restaurants where it is spread onto toast and salted. The tradition of course dates back hundreds of years when roast meats where a larger part of wealthy dining. By the late 17th century the fork had finially started to drift northward to French and English dining tables from its origin in Italy, but forks could not help diners with eating marrow. An early French writer recorded the horror of bone marrow eating in society "Suck no bones... knock no bones upon thy bread or trencher...it is not fit to handle bones, much less to mouth them...also break them not with thy teeth." The marrow spoon appears as early as 1690 to help diners conquer this treat and a generation later the marrow scoop largely replaced the marrow spoon with its two ends of varying size to take on bones of different diameters.
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Additional Notes & Condition Report
Marrow scoop - good condition overall; clearly hallmarked; good detail to engraved crest
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