Pair of Silver-Plated Berry Spoons | Gilded Fruit Bowls | Original Fitted Case | Late 19th–Early 20th Century
Each bowl holds a harvest in gilded relief, made to serve the fruit it shows.
Berry spoons became fashionable in England in the 19th century, when some plain earlier tablespoons were embossed with fruit and gilded inside the bowl. The style became so popular that silver and electroplate makers went on producing new spoons in the same manner through the later 19th and early 20th centuries, often sold in pairs in fitted cases as gifts. These spoons are electroplated; their marks include the letters EP, for “electroplate”.
Each spoon has an Old English-style handle, engraved with a trailing leaf along the stem and with fruit and foliage towards the terminal, leaving a plain space at the tip. The oval bowls have fluted borders and gilded interiors, embossed with matching arrangements of vine leaves, bunches of grapes, a large berry and other fruit, with a ribbon bow near the tip. The back of one handle carries four small marks.
The spoons sit in their original fitted case, hinged and covered in brown leatherette, with a gilt-tooled border to the lid and a push-button catch at the front. The lid is lined in purple satin and the base in deep red velvet.
The spoons are in very good condition, with bright, intact gilding to both bowls and minor plating wear to one handle. The case keeps its satin and velvet lining; its exterior shows wear to the leatherette, particularly on the lid, and a strip repair along the back hinge.
Key Details
- Maker: unidentified
- Marks: four small pseudo-hallmarks, including EP (electroplate)
- Material: electroplated silver; gilded bowls
- Form: matched pair of berry spoons with Old English-style handles
- Decoration: matching embossed fruit and foliage in the bowls; fluted borders; engraved handles
- Case: original fitted case, leatherette-covered, with satin and velvet lining
- Period: late 19th–early 20th century (attributed)
- Dimensions: spoons 22.5 × 4.8 cm (length × width); case 26.5 × 12 × 3.7 cm
- Weight: 77 g per spoon; 436 g with the case
- Condition: spoons very good; gilding intact; minor plating wear to one handle; case exterior worn, with a strip repair along the back hinge
- Buyer profile: collectors of Victorian and Edwardian tableware, anyone setting a dessert table, and those looking for a cased gift
Collector Appeal
Kept in their original case, the spoons remain together as they were first sold or given. The gilt bowls are crowded with fruit and leaves, and the engraved handles carry the theme along their length. They serve berries or a fruit salad as readily as they sit in a display cabinet.
The fruit in these bowls will never ripen or spoil; it has stayed exactly as it was pressed.
