I was rooting around in the back of the dining room hutch the other day, looking for a trivet, when I came upon a box I'd never seen before. Now you must know that the hutch, and indeed the house, belonged to my parents before we were lucky enough to inherit it. Cleaning out attics and closets and such became something of a treasure hunt for us. But I thought we had discovered all there was to find. Apparently not.
Opening up my mystery box, I found these little forks and spoons. I guess I need to get out the silver polish, but in the meantime, does anybody know what these may be for?
Spoon #1:
Spoon #2:
Fork #1:
Fork #2:
Shovel?!
Here is a picture of them next to a dinner fork, so that you can get an idea of scale.
I also found this little silver salver. I swear it was like my very own thrift shop, only better.
Somebody pinch me. Am I dreaming?
Posts
I have no idea what they are for but they sure look good. Imagine how wonderful they will look once you've polished them.
ReplyDeleteAlison
Olive and pickle forks, jelly and aspic servers. I have a similar set that belonged to my great-grandmother. The small ladle is for sauces. Polish them up and enjoy them for whatever uses you deem fit! What a great find!
ReplyDeleteOooo.. they are just lovely! What a marvelous find! I'd say the comment above is right on the money. My mother has some silver she acquired from an antique shop in England and it has similiar pieces. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete~Abbie
ooooooh, what treasures are they!
ReplyDeletexo,
Kim
No idea what they are for, but what a fun thing to find in your own home! My dream job would be to go into old attics and even abandoned houses looking for interesting things left behind, sigh, too bad that job doesn't exist:>( So you can just guess how fun I think it would be to find treasure like that in my own home! Do you think you will try to use or display them? They are no good if you can't have some fun with them:>)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great find, especially under your own roof. Enjoy , they are lovely. Janie
ReplyDeleteThe "shovel" is the one that I can't quite figure out. Mary, they are wonderful!! I wish I would have been standing by you when you ran across these treasures. What fun..especially knowing they belonged to your mother. You're not dreaming. Now polish them up and start using them. :)
ReplyDeleteooooo, what a fabulous find. I know you were just so surprised when you found that little box!
ReplyDeleteI know they are connected with serving...just little tiny serving pieces for olives and pickles, jellies and the like.
Happy day, bj
What neat pieces! I don't know what they are for but what an exciting find!
ReplyDeleteDonna
They must have belonged to the tiny people with the extra large mouths that lived there before your parents.
ReplyDeleteMary,
ReplyDeleteOh how sweet they are! You are one lucky girl! Hmmm...not sure what each is for, but I'll guess they are serving piece for a cocktail party/appetizer serving...don't know, but they sure are beautiful! What a wonderful treasure hunt.
Rose
What a treasure! Don't you wish they could talk and tell you their story? ~Adrienne~
ReplyDeleteThey are wonderful. I inherited some similar pieces but not the whole set. I just love to display them. How ornate and fun. I can't imagine living in a time when one had to have the exact spoon and fork to go with every different dish :-)
ReplyDeleteThe "shovel" might be for ice-cream. I have a few spoons that look like your "shovel" *tee-hee* and use them for everything from eating desserts to ladle sugar into my coffee. But my mother told me that they really are for eating ice-cream (served on dessert-plates).
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Maike
wowwwwwwwwwwwwww sono meravigliose!!!!!!!!!!!! baci Mary
ReplyDeleteWhat fun and such an adventure in your own home. I know you will enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteJanet
Spoon #2 looks like a "jelly spoon" or at least that is what it is called with my pattern. Not sure about the others.
ReplyDeleteThe shovel is likely a baby spoon of sorts. Odd but that is what I've been told.
ReplyDeleteWhat nice things you again show. it are precious thes subject of past days...
ReplyDeleteTake care Barbara
What a score Mary! I wish I could treasure hunt in my own house ~ alas, my finds would be mere silver balls of gum foil :) LOL! What a cute little serving set. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Dena
They're beautiful, Mary! And to think they were right under your roof all along! ~ Lynda xo
ReplyDeleteHow fun - treasure hunting without the hunt! I don't know what they're for, but they are really nice.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary--the "shovel" one could be for asparagus! It's hard to judge the size of this one but I know that's what that shape is used for when it's about the size of your hand.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous treasures, Mary! I think anonymous #1 is correct.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I love your sofa from the previous post. The engraved frame is gorgeous:)
Rhonda
What a wonderful treasure you have found at the back of your dining room hutch. I have no idea what they are for, but they are lovely, just the same. I have also enjoyed your last postings, about the lovely sofa and you beautiful dinner set. You do have a lot of amazing, special things in the Little Red House of yours!
ReplyDeleteSuch a nice find; you need to go treasure hunting in your own home more often!
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly what it is called, but I did notice that Spoon #2 looks a great deal like one in a pic that Alison has on her sidebar at Brocante Home. In that photo, the spoon is being used to cut into a casserole...I think. It makes perfect sense to me and I'd certainly love to have one. I'll be on the lookout from now on. :>
Wow...Mary! What a great find. The forks are pickle forks. Not sure about the spoons though. You have gotten a lot of great answers. ~ Lynn
ReplyDeleteHey, Mary, so glad I caught your sofa post! That is one beautiful sofa & since it has such sentimental value, I can understand why you love it too. And it has such classic & stylish lines.
ReplyDeleteOh, and what a find with that little box of silver things. Can't believe you are just now discovering that treasure. What fun! I see some have identified them for you & that makes sense, the pickle & olive forks. They're beautiful, now you'll have to polish them & use them!
xo,
Rhoda
my mother has all those as well and when she entertained the Miss Susquehanna Valley Pagent contestants once a year she used that shovel in the dish of peanuts! The other ones were used for pickels, olives, etc. She liked to collect those odd serving pieces and I think she may have used a shovel type thing in a jelly jar at one point too. Your collection looks wonderful!!!
ReplyDeletemy mother has all those as well and when she entertained the Miss Susquehanna Valley Pagent contestants once a year she used that shovel in the dish of peanuts! The other ones were used for pickels, olives, etc. She liked to collect those odd serving pieces and I think she may have used a shovel type thing in a jelly jar at one point too. Your collection looks wonderful!!!
ReplyDeleteMary,
ReplyDeleteStop on by and enter my giveaway.
Janet
Hi Mary! Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your blog! I check it regularly and am always thrilled with what you post. Your little found treasure is just so exciting, a little post Christmas gift... Also your favorite thrift store you always mention, I want to come shop in your neighborhood! All the wonderful things you find in there and at such bargains. Nothing like that in my area, that's for sure. Well keep up your gorgeous, artistic photographs, I so enjoy them! Laurie aka DecoratingFanatic
ReplyDeleteWhat a great discovery! Thanks for sharing..I just love all your treasures.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
You luckey girl. Oh my gosh it is like you went shopping at home for free.How crazy is it that you love old silver and vintage spoons and then you fine this box. wow I think im dreaming too.
ReplyDeleteNo fair! I never find neat stuff like that in my house. Around here it's only dust bunnies and half-chewed dog bones.
ReplyDeleteI believe anonymous #1 is correct. The Victorians had a silver serving piece designed specifically for just about anything you could think of.
OK, Mary, --this post shows me how unquestioning I have become!! I have those same shaped spoons---have had them for the 30 years I have been married!! AND I never knew what each of them were for either!! I questioned it at one time, but never asked anyone!! I did figure olive and pickle forks--but the spoons --I had no idea. the shovel for peanuts sounds like a good idea! Jelly and aspic servers---Jelly sounds right, Aspic woweee--never thought about that! Let me know at my blog if you find out if these are the true uses---I would really like to know!!
ReplyDeleteI've found things I didn't know I had too. When we bought this house 10 years ago, we also purchased an old desk. A few years later, I discovered two secret compartments in the desk where I found the previous owner's passport. It was fun to see all the wonderful places he'd been and luckily I had his daughter's address, so I sent it to her. We also found a silver trophy cup when we were doing some remodeling. And I remember finding strange old things in Grandmother's buffet when we got it from my MIL. Great fun.
ReplyDeleteLaura from Amongst The Oaks
What wonderful finds!! And in your own home!
ReplyDeletePenny
How wonderful!! Yes -- a quick look at Replacements.com or on EBay will show you that there are silver serving pieces for any use! LOL! Those are just wonderful treasures!
ReplyDeleteJan at Rosemary Cottage
Hi just found your blog - its wonderful! The shovel is probably for measuring leaf tea into a teapot, we have one similar to yours.
ReplyDeleteRosie in the UK.