Serving Spoon 1903

Here are two silver serving spoons by Reed and Barton, gleaming with motifs that ripple through time. The most striking is the shell shape of the lower spoon's bowl. The scallop shell, you see, has been a symbol laden with meaning since antiquity. It was the emblem of Venus, goddess of love and beauty, born from the sea in a shell. Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela adopted it, turning a pagan symbol into a Christian one. Consider Botticelli's "Birth of Venus"; the goddess arrives on shore standing in a giant scallop shell, the same form we see echoed here on this spoon centuries later. Observe how the spoon's handle is adorned with floral patterns reminiscent of those in ancient Roman frescos. Even in the everyday object of a serving spoon, we find the echo of ancient myths, beliefs, and artistic traditions, reflecting a deep human need to connect with the past. The life of images is indeed a powerful current, ever flowing.