The spoons found in this exhibit are interesting pieces which do not fit into any of the other categories. Many oriental spoons are also shown in other exhibits in this Souvenir Spoon Museum.
An absolutely beautifully shaped and engraved hand made bowl
The lion of Singapore
This is a modern gold plated spoon imitating the cloissone style. It is not silver and pieces like this are available. I do have to admit that it is pretty, however.
Cute hand made finial for the Malaysian state of Johore. This city is linked by a causeway to Singapore.
Cute handmade finial about the nomadic tribe of Penan.
The Penan are one of the few surviving tribes in the rainforest of the
Malaysian
state of Sarawak which is on the third largest island in the world,
Borneo.
The silversmiths of Siam (Thailand) make a lot of silver using this very black niello technique. It is quite easy to find jewelry made in this style. Spoons are a little rarer. Larger pieces of silver are also available
This Goddess image is frequently found on silver from this area. Much of this silver is handworked so is desirable in that regard, but it is not widely collected
This very unusual shaped spoon bowl makes collecting these pieces interesting
I have been unable to decipher silver markings from India and much of the silver appears to be unmarked. I know that India is the largest importer of silver in the world and that it is used extensively as a means of preserving family wealth. If anyone has more information on silver from India, I would be very interested in learning more about it.
left: Elephant's are frequently associated with India
silver.
middle: This snake charmer finial is cute.
right: cute rickshaw spoon (marked sterling but actual location
unknown)
Nicely hand enameled spoon from the city of Jaipur.
Click if you would like to learn more about Jaipur.
Full handled figural of a king cobra snake--unmarked, but all handworked
hand cutout of a man with a water buffalo. marked "silver"
This pretty enameled piece bears English hallmarks. It was probably made in England and then exported to Shanghai for resale to English tourists. My, how times have changed.
This cute enameled view of Hong Kong "junks" was made in Britain and then exported to Hong Kong for resale to British visitors (Birmingham, 1955)
Silver mounted characters on a luminescent background
Hand made spoon from Vietnam (prob. from the 1970's)
The woman is wearing the "ao dai" which is a national costume with a high collar, a snug waist and swirls around the pajama like pants. This style of dress originated in the 1950's.
The western coast of the United States had a very large thriving population of Chinese and Japanese citizens around 1900. These souvenir spoons were remembrances of visits to "Chinatown" in either San Francisco or Los Angeles.
This enameled "China man" is available in several variations and in different sizes and different handle/bowl designs.
San Francisco "Chinatown"
Nice handmade bamboo cutout finial with an actual seashell bowl
Some type of animal (badger?)
Conventional looking spoon marked as being made by "Arthur and Bond" with no purity mark (but I think it is silver). The Buddha in the bowl is based upon the second largest sculpture of Buddha in the world which is located in Kamakura, a picturesque city just outside Tokyo. I have recently learned that Arthur and Bond were English retailers who set up shop in the 1880's in Japan to take advantage of the lower cost Japanese silversmiths. They did not provide a purity mark on their silver, but it is usually sterling quality. Their "name" was supposed to be all the requirement their customers would require.
A cute tea spoon with a tea house handle and a dragon bowl (prob. Japanese)
A cute spoon with a flower bowl
Some Ceremonial spoons from South East Asia are shown
in the
Ceremonial Spoon Exhibit