Horn Spoons

These spoons are made of horn and have broad, oval bowls, some of which are almost translucent. The handles range widely in desgin - flattened, pointed, arched, triangular shaped, grooved and short. One of the spoons differs slightly from the rest as the upper surface of the handle is incised with a decorative pattern of circles, criss-cross squares and a large circular four petal motif.   Horn was commonly used as a material for making tableware. It became incredibly flexible when soaked in boling water and could then be shaped, trimmed and polished. Horn was widly used throughout the 16th to 18th centuries as it was inexpensive, fairly straight forward to manipulate and therefore accessible to most households.