Posted 10 years ago
Escrimeur
(4 items)
If anyone has heard of the Iona Nunnery Spoon, found in 1922 and dating from the later 12th century? It's a classic example of Celtic spoon design with a leaf-shaped bowl that emerges from a predatory animal's mouth (zoomorphic junction) and with the stele (narrow handle) in three parts diminishing towards the finial. It has been copied since but not quite as much as our beloved Coronation Anointing spoon whose handle (at least) dates from the same period.
The image shows George Hunt's copy assayed in 1936 and it's spectacular with hard stone cabochons and celtic interlaces in cabled gold wire on the broader section of the stele.